Telangana CM asks Modi for Rs 1,000 crore relief to tackle drought

Hyderabad: Seeking Rs 1,000 crore immediate aid, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to extend financial assistance to the Telangana state government’s permanent measures like Mission Bhagiratha, Mission Kakatiya and construction of irrigation projects to tackle drought.

The Chief Minister informed Mr Modi that the state government had decided to construct irrigation projects across Krishna and Godavari Rivers including 38 reservoirs and barrages. He said that such measures were the only solution to end the menace of recurring droughts and to ensure water for drinking and irrigation purposes even during dry days.

Mr Rao had a one-and-a-half-hour long meeting with the Prime Minister, Union home minister Rajnath Singh, Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh and others in New Delhi on drought and other issues. He was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Kadiam Srihari, chief secretary Rajiv Sharma, principal secretary of revenue B.R. Meena and others.

The Prime Minister reportedly appreciated the state’s initiatives on the water, welfare and developmental schemes. The Chief Minister informed Mr Modi that 231 mandals in seven districts in the state were hit by drought with Medak, Nizamabad, Ranga Reddy and Mahbubnagar being the worst hit due to 14 per cent less rainfall last monsoon. He informed the PM that though Telangana had sought Rs 3,064 crore as drought aid, it had got only Rs 791 crore, which was insufficient.