The Maharashtra government on Friday declared a ‘drought-like condition’ in 14,708 of the 43,000 villages which received less than 50 per cent average rainfall between June and July.
It has announced a series of measures for drought-affected farmers, including the waiver of land revenue and school fees for their children and a 33 per cent waiver in the bill amount of agricultural pumps.
It would provide water tankers in scarcity-prone villages and would ask the State power distribution utility not to disconnect power supply to agriculture pumps.
The Marathwada region has been most affected, with a drought-like condition declared in as many as 8,522 villages in the region.
The Nasik and Jalgaon districts of north Maharashtra have also been severely affected.
Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse said the government had declared a drought-like condition earlier than usual as it was normally declared after an assessment of crop-yields in December. Villages, where the harvest was less than half the average yield would then be declared drought-hit.