22 July : The Assam government has declared the entire state under the grip of “agricultural drought” following scanty rainfall this year, the state government had declared 14 of the 28 districts as “drought-hit” on 14th July.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi chaired a high-level meeting on Tuesday night where the drought situation was reviewed and it was decided to declare the entire state to be under “agricultural drought”, official sources said in Guwahati on Wednesday.
The state is suffering from severe crop damages due to very less and uneven rainfall and it was decided at the meeting that assistance would be provided to farmers from the Calamity Relief Fund (CRF), they said.
The Deputy Commissioners of all 28 districts in the state have been directed to extend necessary help to farmers and set up a control room in their respective districts to monitor the situation, the sources added.
The Deputy Commissioners have also been directed to make use of the pump sets and shallow tube wells available with different government departments for irrigation purposes by the farmers.
The state agricultural department has also been directed to provide 30 pump sets each in all districts of the state for the purpose.
The state government had declared 14 of the 28 districts as “drought-hit” on 14th July.