This story is from October 16, 2018

State govt declares 206 blocks in 23 districts drought-hit

State govt declares 206 blocks in 23 districts drought-hit
Patna: Bihar government on Monday declared 206 blocks in 23 districts as drought-hit. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by CM Nitish Kumar.
The drought hit districts are Patna, Bhojpur, Buxar, Gaya, Nawada, Aurangabad, Saran, Siwan, Gopalganj, Vaishali, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Samastipur, Sheikhpura, Jamui, Banka, Bhagalpur, Nalanda, Saharsa, Munger, Jehanabad and Kaimur.
The last three districts have only one drought-hit block each.
The 206 blocks were declared drought-hit if they satisfied even one of the three criteria prescribed by the agriculture department — condition of agriculture farm, drying up of standing crops and 33% less than the expected yield.
It was accordingly decided to provide a slew of measures to affected farmers, including waiver of agriculture land rent and cess, electricity charge and water charge for the fiscal year 2018-19. It was also decided that 24X7 control room will be established in all the affected districts to monitor the drought situation and corresponding assistance works.
The affected farmers will be provided immediate relief by agriculture department in the form of subsidy on diesel and seeds, and formation of alternate cropping scheme and its effective implementation. It was also decided that necessary steps would be taken to provide the benefits of crop insurance and assistance schemes to farmers and they would also be provided agriculture input subsidy.
“As per the reports furnished by the agriculture department, 206 blocks in the 23 districts were declared drought-hit. Farmers should register themselves by October 31 for availing the benefits of crop assistance scheme and by November 15 for input subsidy scheme. The state government is already providing diesel subsidy on five irrigation spells for paddy, four spells for wheat and three spells for maize,” Nitish said.

Bihar witnessed a meteorological drought this year with 25% rainfall deficiency in the four-month-long monsoon season.
“The state government will take adequate measures to save the standing crops, ensure alternate farming works, proper upkeep of livestock and other sources of employment for the affected farmers,” a senior state government official said.
It has also been decided that the public health and engineering department will take steps to ensure sufficient water supply in the affected areas. The handpumps in the drought-affected areas will be repaired and if necessary, the old handpumps would be drilled even deeper in the ground to reach the water table. Besides, water supply in the affected areas will be ensured by installing new handpumps and through water tankers.
Instructions were also given to food and consumer protection department to ensure sufficient quantity of food stored and supplied to the beneficiaries in the affected areas.
Animal husbandry department was also asked to ensure availability of fodder for livestock. Besides, instructions were issued to store sufficient medicines at the veterinary hospitals to treat livestock affected with drought-related diseases.
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