The Telangana government on Sunday informed the Assembly in the form of a written reply to a starred question that a Cabinet Sub-Committee under the chairmanship of the Minister for Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development, Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, was constituted to study the thrust areas for overall development of dairy industry in the State.
Based on the committee’s report, the government would take suitable decisions in due course and the additional financial burden on the exchequer would be worked out accordingly.
To another starred question about falling groundwater levels, the government’s reply was an admittance and it also acknowledged that there was a severe drinking water crisis, apart from which it also agreed that there was a shortage of fodder for cattle due to the prevailing drought conditions.
As for mitigating the effects of the drought, the government said a crash programme was conducted in January and February, following it up with a Contingency Action Plan under the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund at an estimated Rs. 310.61 crore.
This money is to be used to take up temporary measures, including flushing, deepening of sources, hiring of private sources and transportation after identifying 12,616 vulnerable habitations in 231 mandals that were declared drought-hit.
In addition, an action plan was prepared for Adilabad and Khammam districts that were not declared drought-hit, at a cost of Rs. 31.55 crore, the State government’s reply said. An action plan was also prepared for Rs. 217.24 crore for attending to urgent works like replacement of old pumps, repairs to motors and replacement of old pipelines and valves.
One chief engineer for two districts was also being nominated to monitor the situation.
In response to a question about the handlooms and textiles sector, the reply said Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had asked for Warangal to be made a textile hub in the State.
He wanted steps to be taken to attract small and tiny entrepreneurs from different parts of the country.
A new mega textile park in an extent of about 2,000 to 3,000 acres land too was in the reckoning.
In a candid admission, the government accepted that government hospitals in the State, especially in the twin cities, were unable to maintain hygiene due to lack of infrastructure and said that a sum of Rs. 35.31 crore was allocated and spent in the financial year 2015-16 for the purpose.
