Have Urged Centre For Drought Relief: Pocharam

Telangana Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy today said that a Central team would visit the drought-hit districts in the State in about two days.

Along with Deputy Chief Minister K Srihari and a team of MPs from the TRS, he had handed over a drought report to the Union Agriculture Minister Radhamohan Singh and sought financial assistance for the affected 231 mandals in the State, he said.

Singh had promised to send an official team to assess the loss by drought in Telangana this year, he said.

Srinivas added that the Mahabubnagar, Medak, Ranga Reddy and Nizamabad districts were badly hit by the drought. As per reports from the district Collectors, 231 mandals were hit by drought resulting in a loss of crops worth lakhs of acres, he said, and expressed hope that the central team would come to the rescue of the State.

"We sought financial assistance of Rs 2,514 crores for drinking water, input subsidies and others," he said.

The Union Minister had also promised to lay the foundation stone for the Horticulture University in the State on January 7, and had offered Rs 75 crores towards the second phase of the development of horticulture sector, Srinivas disclosed.