Sharad Pawar visits drought-hit Tulshi village in Solapur, gives Rs 50 lakh for relief

Senior leader Sharad Pawar began his tour to assess drought conditions in the state from Solapur district. He reached Tulshi village in Madha taluka, where residents, fed up with the water shortage, had put up a banner reading "Tulshi village for sale". Pawar saw the drought situation in the village and spoke to villagers.

After assessing conditions in the village, Pawar announced Rs 50 lakh in assistance for drought victims in Solapur district. He handed the amount as a cheque to MP Dhairyasheel Mohite-Patil. He also assured villagers that he would take farmers' concerns to the government. Farmers battling the drought are hoped to get some relief from this.

In Madha taluka, Pawar walked to the edge of farmers' fields and listened to their problems himself. Madha is the constituency from which he had contested the Lok Sabha election.

During the interaction, Pawar also recalled the drought of 1972. He said he was then the guardian minister of Solapur district and had tried to help drought victims as much as possible.

The water shortage in Tulshi had become serious. People had to scramble for drinking water, and the drought had created all kinds of hardship. To draw the administration's attention, villagers had put up the banner offering the village for sale. The banner was talked about across the state. The district collector later visited the village and spoke to residents. Now that Pawar himself has come to the village, people placed their troubles before him.

Pawar said that after completing his drought tour of Marathwada he would meet Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. He also said he had already given the Chief Minister written suggestions a month ago on measures to tackle the drought.

Pawar also expressed the hope that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Baramati, Supriya Sule and Dhairyasheel Mohite-Patil would get time to present farmers' problems.