Areas with less than 50% rains to be declared ‘dry spell regions’

Bhubaneswar: Odisha government will no more wait for the crop cutting report before declaring a region drought-affected. The areas that record 50 percent less rainfall than normal for three consecutive weeks will be declared as ‘dry spell regions’, informed Revenue and Disaster Management Minister, Maheswar Mohanty on Friday.

“An improvement in the drought situation was seen after recent rainfall. While 103 blocks had deficit rainfall earlier, the number has now fallen to 96,” said Mohanty.

The Minister further said that the final report on the drought situation has still not been submitted by the district collectors. Discussions on the drought situation will be held in the review meeting on October 10 after receiving the reports, he added.