Central team to assess drought in Bihar tomorrow

An 11-member central team would arrive here tomorrow to make an on-the-spot study of the drought hit districts of Bihar, state Disaster Management Principal Secretary Vyasji said.

"The team led by joint secretary to the union agriculture ministry R K Tiwari would leave for the drought-hit areas by choppers to assess the situation," Vyasji told PTI.

Altogether 26 of the 38 districts of Bihar have been declared drought-hit. The central team would be divided into three groups and allotted separate districts for assessing the situation at meetings with senior district officials, including district magistrates, he said.

The districts under Magadh, Munger, Saran and Tirhut divisions are the worst drought affected ones in the state.

On completion of their district-wise assessments, the team would hold a high-level meeting with top state officials on return to the state capital and also meet chief minister Nitish Kumar on August 21.

The team would brief the senior officials in the union ministry and suggest the package to be given to the state for handling the situation on return to New Delhi, he said.
    
Nitish Kumar had also requested the prime minister to send a high-level ministerial team to assess the situation arising out of the natural calamity in the state.

Kumar had on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking an assistance of Rs23,071 crore to meet the financial burden caused by the 'unprecedented drought' situation prevailing in the state.   

The financial requirements of the state would go up to deal with the situation in case the other districts also received scanty rainfall in the coming weeks.
   
The drought affected around 1.26 crore families in 26 districts with paddy coverage showing an overall shortfall of 57 per cent.

With the coverage of other main crop maize also coming down to 27.4 per cent during the current sowing season due to scanty rains, the government might consider declaring the remaining 12 districts as drought hit, the letter said.

Of the Rs23,071 crore allocation sought for tackling drought, huge expenditure has been suggested towards providing relief to the 1.26 crore families, besides Rs10,845 crore for employment generation under NREGA and other sectors.