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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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
