Central team visits drought-hit Washim, inspects crop damage and water scarcity

An inter-ministerial central team of the Union government visited drought-affected areas of Washim district on Friday. The team first held a meeting to take stock of the district's drought situation and crop losses, and then inspected conditions on the ground. The central team comprises senior officials Arjeshkumar Madhok, Mahesh Kumar, Seema Rani, Sanjay Meena and Abhay Bharat.

The meeting was held at the Collector's office in the presence of the team members. Washim District Collector Yogesh Kumbhejkar, Yavatmal District Collector Vikas Meena, Amravati District Collector Ashish Yerekar, Buldhana District Collector Pravinkumar Deore and Akola District Collector Varsha Meena attended. Washim Chief Executive Officer Arpit Chauhan and Joint Director of Agriculture Ganesh Ghorpade were also present.

The Union government has appointed an 11-member team to assess drought in the state. It includes officials from the departments concerned, among them agriculture, water resources, rural development, drinking water supply, food and public distribution, animal husbandry and finance, as well as NITI Aayog. At the meeting, the district collectors of the Amravati division gave presentations on the drought situation in their districts.

The collectors drew the team's attention to crop losses, water availability and the likely need for tankers. Concerns of farm labourers and landowners dependent on agriculture, and the possibility of migration of labourers, were also raised. At the meeting, Joint Director of Agriculture Ghorpade made the introductory remarks and District Superintending Agriculture Officer Arif Shah conducted the proceedings.

In the next leg of the tour, at 1 pm, the team reached Kupta in Manora taluka and visited the farm of Mohammed Sadiq Mohammed Shafi. It then visited the farms of Tryambak Fakira Gulhane at Kalikaranja and Ramesh Bhaurao Ther at Panvihir in Karanja taluka. The team saw the crop damage and spoke to farmers to learn of their problems.

After the meeting, the team went to different villages in the district and saw the drought conditions, crop losses and water scarcity first-hand. It visited the farm of Dayaram Vitthal Raut at Supkhela in Washim taluka to assess the damage. It then inspected a minor irrigation project at Swasin in Mangrulpir taluka and took stock of the water scarcity in the area.

The team will make an objective assessment of crop losses, water scarcity and ground conditions in the drought-affected areas. On that basis, the actual drought situation, losses to farm crops, water scarcity and the measures required will be placed before the Union government.