Beed, Oct 17 (PTI) Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Ajit Pawar on Saturday reviewed the severe drought conditions in Beed district, and directed the district administration to execute relief measures on a war footing.
Presiding over a high-level review meeting at the Beed Collectorate, she assessed the prevailing water scarcity, crop damage and fodder shortages across the district.
MLAs Prakash Solanke and Dhananjay Munde, Collector Vivek Johnson, Zilla Parishad Chief Executive Officer Jithin Rahman, Superintendent of Police Navneet Kanwat and other officials took part in the meeting chaired by Pawar, who is also the guardian minister of Beed.
As rain deficit has triggered acute shortage of drinking water and fodder, Pawar instructed the officials to expedite crop loss assessments.
Prioritising drinking water management, Pawar mandated GPS-enabled tracking for all operational water tankers to ensure accountable and timely distribution. The district currently deploys 225 water tankers to scarcity-hit pockets.
She reiterated that potable water must strictly not be diverted for construction activities and appealed for judicious use of water.
She also directed the authorities to immediately undertake water conservation works, including desilting and deepening rivers and nullahs, groundwater recharge, and repairing public wells.
To counter imminent fodder shortages, Pawar asked the administration to deploy forward planning by training farmers in silage, hydroponics, and azolla cultivation.
She directed that employment guarantee works under government schemes be integrated directly with water conservation projects to provide guaranteed local livelihoods and prevent distress migration from rural belts.
Given the crisis, the guardian minister appealed to citizens to practice restraint by curbing non-essential expenditures on weddings and birthdays, encouraging mass marriage ceremonies instead.
Pawar issued strict directions ordering all departmental officers and field staff to remain stationed at their respective headquarters to assist the public.
Emphasising the human dimension of the crisis, she instructed field teams to step up proactive outreach, counselling, and emotional support for distressed farmers.
“The state government and administration stand firmly behind our citizens in this hour of crisis. We are operating at peak capacity across all fronts to ensure comprehensive relief and pull our farming community safely through this natural calamity,” Pawar said.
The state government has declared 305 out of the total 358 talukas as drought-hit. PTI COR NP
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.