Bhaskar Jadhav asks CM to add six more Ratnagiri talukas to drought-hit list
Shiv Sena leader and MLA Bhaskar Jadhav has written to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis seeking drought status for six talukas left out of the list.
Rainfall in Ratnagiri district was very low and erratic this year, causing heavy damage to paddy and finger millet (nachni) crops. Even so, only three talukas of the district were included in the list of drought-hit talukas. Shiv Sena leader and MLA Bhaskar Jadhav has taken an aggressive stand against this.
Jadhav has demanded of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis that the six talukas of Guhagar, Chiplun, Khed, Dapoli, Mandangad and Lanja be included at once among drought-hit talukas. He has also said the farmers who suffered losses should receive fair compensation.
He had raised the same issue forcefully at the meeting of the Ratnagiri District Planning Committee on Monday. Taking into account the actual rainfall in the district, the condition of farming and the loss of paddy and nachni, he moved a resolution at the meeting that the remaining affected talukas also be included among drought-hit talukas. Today he handed a letter to Chief Minister Fadnavis, stepping up his follow-up on the demand.
In the state, 265 of 358 talukas have been included in the drought-hit list. Even so, farmers in six talukas of Ratnagiri district have been kept out of the relief, Jadhav said in the letter. He stated clearly in the letter that the decision does not match the situation on the ground and is unfair to the farmers concerned.
Jadhav's position is that the government has the rainfall figures, crop losses are plainly visible village after village, and the administration also knows the actual situation. In such circumstances, he has said, it will not be acceptable to deny affected talukas drought relief by pointing only to criteria on paper.
He has also demanded on-the-spot panchnamas (damage assessments) of crop losses in these six talukas. In the letter he has also told the Chief Minister that every eligible affected farmer should receive prompt and adequate financial compensation, and that these farmers should get all the concessions, relief and government measures applicable to drought-hit talukas.
Through his stand in the District Planning Committee, the direct letter to the Chief Minister and the firm demand for the six talukas, Jadhav has increased pressure on the government over the Ratnagiri farmers' issue. Farmers in the district are now waiting to see what decision the state government takes on the demand.
