112 talukas declared severe drought in Maharashtra. (Source: File Photo) 112 talukas declared severe drought in Maharashtra. (Source: File Photo)

The state government on Wednesday declared “severe drought” in 112 talukas of Maharashtra. Besides, 39 talukas were placed under “medium drought” category, taking the total tally of talukas to 151. There are 355 talukas in Maharashtra.

The government’s drought-mitigation measures, which were scaled up from October 31, will continue for the next six months till April. Directives have been issued to officials not to relax relief measures in these talukas, which include deployment of water tankers, employment to villagers, electricity and education fee waiver, among others.

The decision to declare 112 talukas as reeling under severe drought came on a day when the Devendra Fadnavis government completed four years. “It is a formidable challenge as we are heading for a severe drought in Maharashtra. Poor rain coupled with a long dry spell leading to crop losses adversely impacted 151 talukas in the state. Of which 112 are under severe drought category,” Fadnavis said.

Earlier, the government had declared 182 talukas as drought-prone. An official in the relief and rehabilitation department said, “Ideally, drought is declared only after the rabi season in December-end or January. But the government decided to acknowledge the current situation and rush relief measures.”

The districts along with number of talukas declared as severe drought-hit are: Sangli (5), Solapur (9), Satara (1), Dhule (2), Palghar (3), Jalgaon (13), Nandurbar (3), Nashik (4), Ahmednagar (11), Aurangabad (9), Beed (11), Jalna (7), Nanded (2), Osmanabad (7), Parbhani (6), Hingoli (2), Amravati (1), Buldhana (7), Yavatmal (6), Nagpur (2) and Chandrapur (1).

Districts along with talukas put under medium drought category are Pune (7), Satara (2), Dhule (1), Nashik (4), Nanded (1), Hingoli (1), Amravati (4), Buldhana (1), Washim (1), Yavatmal (3), Akola (5), Nandurbar (1), Latur (1), Chandrapur (4), Nagpur (1), Wardha (2).

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