Gandhinagar, 7 August 2012

The government of Gujarat today declared 155 talukas with less than 150 mm rain as scarcity-hit.

A high level meeting of group of ministers and concerned officials on drought chaired by Finance minister Vajubhai Vala today declared districts which have received less then 155 mm of rainfall till date and talukas with 125 mm have been declared as “scarcity hit” areas.

Every taluka in districts of Kutch, Surendranagar, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Amreli, Porbandar, Bhavnagar, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Patan, Banaskantha, Mehsana and Bharuch falls under this category.

Apart from all talukas of these 14 districts, some talukas from other districts where less than 125 mm rainfall has been recorded too are declared scarcity hit, officials said.

The committee also announced immediate measures like linking of pipelines under Narmada canal network for drinking water purposes while new tenders are also being floated to begin construction of canals, particularly in Kutch and Saurashtra areas.

“State has taken a decision to grant Rs 5000 in subsidy per hectare to farmers who grow fodder for animal on his land. Farmers will also get instant power connection if he assures that he will undertake fodder farming,” Patel said, adding the government has planned as many as 15000 out-of-turn electricity connections just to tackle the situation.

The EGoM on drought, headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, on their visit to the state Capital last week, had announced Rs 480 crore towards drinking water in badly affected areas in rural Gujarat.

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