100 taluks declared drought-hit: Government seeks financial assistance from Centre
New Delhi, October 30: As the state has incurred Rs 16,662.48 crore worth loss following crops damage due to drought situation, the state government has appealed the centre to provide Rs 2,434 crore compensation under Natural Disaster Relief Funds (NDRF).
After submitting a proposal to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Tuesday, Revenue Minister R.V Deshpande and Agriculture Minister Shivashankar Reddy told reporters that crops worth Rs 15,294.37 crore grown in 26.18 lakh hectares of land in the state was damaged due to drought situation. Apart from this, horticulture crops worth Rs 1,368.11 crore grown in 1.94 lakh hectares were also damaged. In view of this, the centre should immediately send a team of officials to study the drought situation, they demanded.
If the state had received good monsoon rains, sowing process would have completed in 74.69 lakh hectares. But till September end, the sowing was over in just 63.36 lakh hectares. In view of the drought situation, 100 taluks in the state were declared as drought affected. Out of 3,611 tanks under Minor Irrigation department, only 53 per cent of the tanks have water. Currently, drinking water is being supplied through tankers in 159 villages in rural areas and 136 wards in urban areas. For supplying drinking water, the government has taken over 203 private bore wells, they said.
For the livestock, the government has kept 98.26 metric ton fodder ready and it would suffice for next four months. In order to supply fodder in coming days, the government has distributed 8.11 lakh fodder producing kits to the farmers who have irrigation facility. If the drought situation continued in the same pace, the government has planned to open gaushalas and fodder storage centres, Deshpande said.
In order to handle the drought situation, Rs 100 crore and Rs 50 crore was released from the NDRF and the state government respectively. Out of this amount, each drought-affected taluk was given Rs 50 lakh. Total 6.36 lakh families in drought affected taluks were given jobs, for which Rs 1042.93 crore was spent, Deshpande said.
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Entry to all ASI sites to be free on International Museum Day tomorrow
New Delhi, May 17 (PTI): Entry to all sites and museums under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) across the country will be free on Sunday in view of the International Museum Day.
There are 3,698 protected monuments and sites, and 52 museums under the ambit of the ASI.
"The ASI is pleased to announce that entry to all ASI monuments and museums across the country will be free on May 18, on the occasion of International Museum Day," the Culture Ministry said in a statement.
The International Museum Day highlights the vital role that museums play in preserving cultural heritage, promoting education, and fostering dialogue across communities and generations.
This year to encourage wider public participation, the ASI is offering free access to its network of 52 site museums and all ticketed monuments across the country, which house some of India's most treasured archaeological artefacts, from prehistoric tools and sculptures to medieval inscriptions, and more, the statement said.
"This initiative seeks to deepen public engagement with India's rich cultural legacy and to provide a meaningful platform for people to reconnect with history and heritage," it said.
The ASI also has a dedicated Museum Wing which deals with maintenance and management of its site museums, which includes one at Sarnath site (1910) being the earliest in the series of archaeological site museums located across the country, the ministry said.
The concept of archaeological site museums sought to preserve and display the excavated and movable artefacts near the site so that the displayed objects don't lose its context and may be studied by researchers and visitors alike while visiting the site, it said.
Recently, India's first underground museum at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Humayun's Tomb was inaugurated, along with the Virtual Experiential Museum at Man Mahal Observatory, Varanasi and Archaeological site of Lalitagiri at Odisha, the ministry added.
ASI site museums are being upgraded to facilitate the need of every section of the society, and with modern interventions like AR-VR (augmented reality-virtual reality) also being incorporated to give visitors a holistic experience, officials said.
