Officials from various departments in the district were urged to carry out a thorough assessment of the impact of poor rainfall and chalkout mitigation strategies during a review meeting here here on Thursday.
The review meeting gained significance as a committee from the Central government is expected to visit the district in few days time. Revenue Minister R.B. Udhayakumar, who participated in the meeting along with Cooperation Minister ‘Sellur’ K. Raju, said that the central government had formulated elaborate guidelines and criteria for declaring a region as drought-hit.
“One of the prerequisite is that ten percent of the villages in the district should be taken as a sample and a ground-level study in those area. You have already commenced the exercise. Ensure that the study is thorough and meticulous,” he told the officials.
Dharmendra Pratap Yadav, Housing and Urban Development Secretary, who has been assigned the Monitoring Officer for Madurai district to oversee drought related issues, said that the district administration should also come up with a shelf of projects that can be executed under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme as it will provide employment that has been lost due to failure in agriculture.
Madurai Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao urged the officials from Agriculture and Horticulture department to ensure that all maximum area under cultivation is brought under insurance coverage. “For paddy, the last date for insurance is already over. However, the window is still open for millets, pulses and other rabi crops,” he said.
Minister Raju said that the officials should also come up with mitigation plans to address the expected shortage in meeting drinking water needs. “Health department officials should step up their work to ensure that shortage did not result in distribution of poor quality of water to the public,” he said.
Later, the team of Ministers and officials carried an inspection in the impacted areas in Ayilangudi, Therku Theru and Savudarpatti villages.
