All the affected districts lie in the politically sensitive Marathwada and Vidarbha regions and the Devendra Fadnavis government is coming under pressure to undertake drought-relief work right away.
There is a major shortage of drinking water across Marathwada and people are dependent on tankers even for their basic needs,” said Nationalist Congress Party leader Dhananjay Munde.
According to the NCP, the kharif crops in Marathwada and Vidarbha regions are as good as lost.
“Cotton, corn, jowar and soyabean crops in Marathwada have been damaged due to poor rainfall,” Munde told reporters here.
According to information available from the state government, two of the nine major dams in the Marathwada region have completely dried up even before the monsoons have officially come to an end.
The average water available in the dams in Marathwada region is around 28.81 per cent of their capacity.
Minister of State for Water Conservation Vijay Shivtare told reporters that the problem in Marathwada has been aggravated because of increasing acreage under sugarcane.
“Despite poor rainfall, farmers in the region are planting sugarcane which causes ground water to deplete,” Shivtare said.
He admitted that the government was helpless in curbing sugarcane cultivation because sugar co-operatives controlled by politicians have a strong hold in the region.
Meanwhile, the revenue department of the state has announced that a meeting of officials from the relief and rehabilitation (R&R) department will be held on October 15 to take stock of the situation.