State govt aware of agriculture, drinking water situation due to below average rains: Rajasthan CM

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday said the state government is fully conscious of the agriculture and drinking water situation in the state due to the below average rainfall so far during the Southwest monsoon.He directed the officers of the departments concerned to ensure all necessary preparations are in place.Gehlot was addressing a review meeting of the departments of Disaster Management, Relief and Civil Defence, Agriculture, Water Resources and Public Health Engineering.The Chief Minister said that except Pratapgarh and Jaisalmer, it is worrying to see there is less than normal rainfall in almost all the districts at present.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday said the state government is fully conscious of the agriculture and drinking water situation in the state due to the below average rainfall so far during the Southwest monsoon.

He directed the officers of the departments concerned to ensure all necessary preparations are in place.

Gehlot was addressing a review meeting of the departments of Disaster Management, Relief and Civil Defence, Agriculture, Water Resources and Public Health Engineering.

The Chief Minister said that except Pratapgarh and Jaisalmer, it is worrying to see there is less than normal rainfall in almost all the districts at present. But the government is hopeful that this situation will improve in the coming days and the monsoon will turn out to be good.

He said that even then, all preparations should be made for disaster management in case of drought or excessive rain.

The Chief Minister directed the district collectors to prepare themselves in dealing with drinking water, rain-related accidents, flood or drought.

Gehlot said that during his previous tenure as chief minister, emphasis was laid on building rainwater harvesting structures in residential and other buildings in order to promote water conservation. This work needs to be expedited now, he added.

He said priority is being given to the works of Jal Jeevan Mission and coordination is being done with the Centre for providing water to every household.

Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister Lalchand Kataria said the sowing of seeds has been reduced due to delay in rains. But, monsoon is expected to improve with the forecast of good rains in the coming days.

Minister of State for Disaster Management and Relief Rajendra Yadav expressed hope of good rains in the coming days. He said the Disaster Management Department is fully prepared to deal with any kind of disaster.

Principal Secretary, Disaster Management and Relief, Anand Kumar said that till July 25, the state has received 32 per cent less rainfall than normal. However, the Meteorological Department has forecast good rainfall in many districts from July 26 to July 28. This is expected to improve the average rainfall.

He said SDRF teams have been deployed in 25 districts of the state and QRT teams of civil defence in all districts to prevent rain-related accidents.

Principal Secretary, Agriculture, Bhaskar A Sawant informed that against the target of sowing in 163 lakh hectare area in Rajasthan till Sunday, 97 lakh hectare area has only been sown, which is about 60 per cent of the target.

He informed that 68 per cent target of sowing of Bajra, 52 per cent of Moong has been achieved. Sowing condition of groundnut, soyabean and maize is good. So far, 95 per cent, 82 per cent and 80 per cent of the targeted area respectively has been sown for these crops.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)