Hyderabad: The state government on Tuesday declared 231 mandals, about one-third of the total mandals in the state, spread over seven districts, as drought-hit and sought Rs 1,000 crore as immediate financial assistance from the Centre.
This is the first time since Telangana state was formed that mandal were declared drought-hit. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao finalised the list of drought-hit mandals by convening a meeting with ministers and officials at his camp office in Begumpet.
While Mahbubnagar topped the list with 64 drought-hit mandals, 46 were listed in Medak, 36 in Nizamabad, Ranga Reddy (33), Nalgonda (22), Karimnagar (19) and Warangal (11).
Mr Rao urged the Centre to send a team to assess the drought situation in these mandals at the earliest.
The drought report prepared by officials revealed that rainfall was normal only in Khammam and Adilabad districts while Mahbubnagar, Medak, Nizamabad and Ranga Reddy districts were totally drought-affected. It said partial drought prevailed in Karimnagar, Nalgonda and Warangal districts.
Minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy will submit the report to the Centre. Mr Rao said the TRS government had embarked on redesigning of irrigation projects to find a permanent solution to the frequent droughts.
He said the government had also set a target of irrigating one crore acres of land by 2021 with redesigning of existing project and constructing new projects.
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