Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee visits drought-hit areas in West Bengal

KOLKATA - West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee visited drought-hit districts and outlined steps taken by his government to save agricultural lands and produce.

Talking to reporters here, he said it was distressing to note that a major chunk of arable land could not be cultivated due to a drought-like situation.

“The condition of farming in West Medinipur is very bad. Only 2.27 lakh hectares fields have the ability for farming this year whereas 5.44 lakh hectares fields were used every year. We are unable to cultivate in more than three lakh hectares of farming fields,” he added.

He said all necessary relief measures for farmers have been initiated and these will be executed at the earliest. The district administration has been advised to combat the crisis on a war footing.

“We are trying to find solution for this situation. First of all the crops, which are grown, have to be saved. We are working on that and we have made arrangements of water like deep tube well, shallow tube well, pumps and whatever is necessary we would do,” he added.

Meanwhile, Congress party supporters staged a demonstration outside the Circuit House where Bhattacharjee was holding talks with district officials.

The protesting Congress party workers and Youth Congress members were demanding an economic package for farmers.

Eleven districts of the West Bengal have been declared as drought-hit and the state government has allocated Rs 50 crore to tackle the situation caused by a rain deficit of 30 per cent. (ANI)