As the drought situation in the State turns grim, Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil held a meeting of the Cabinet sub-committee held a review meeting to take stock of the situation on Wednesday. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar too met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday to discuss the situation.

In a four-page letter to the Chief Minister, Mr. Pawar mentioned that areas such as Satara, Solapur, Beed and Ahmednagar would be witnessing a situation more severe than 1972. Among those who met the CM with Mr. Pawar were former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, NCP MLAs Rana Jagjitsingh Patil and Deepak Salunkhe.

At a press conferen after the sub-committee meeting, Mr. Patil said 1,417 fodder camps were operating across the State in which 9,39,372 cattle were being looked after. “In a bid to avoid irregularities in the fodder camps, we have developed a mobile application under which tags will be tied to the cattle making it easier to monitor,” said Mr. Patil.

He said grant for animals in cattle camps too has been increased for the purpose of their fodder and water.

At present, 4,331 villages and 9,470 hamlets are being supplied water through 5,493 tankers. This number was 5,174 last week and in 2018 during the same week only 1,245 tankers had been deployed. Mr. Patil said that the State has delegated the powers of the Collector at the tehsildar level for sanctioning water tankers within 24 hours wherever it is needed.

Mr. Pawar in his letter also said that “Drinking water was not supplied to Bijwadi, Shindi Khurd, Vavarhire, Bhalwadi, Panwal among other villages as per the needs of population. The frequency of tankers was inadequate. There were complaints of contaminated waters.”