Overview
- Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Monday the state has begun providing relief from its own funds and will not wait for Central assistance to help farmers facing severe kharif shortfalls.
- The government will run a three-stage assessment under the 2017 Drought Management Code with mandatory rainfall checks, indicative severity measures, and field surveys that make a village eligible when crop damage exceeds 33 percent.
- Solapur is singled out as the worst-hit district with about 50 percent below-normal rainfall, official estimates of roughly 80–85 percent crop damage, and dozens of villages already dependent on tanker water.
- State committees led by the Agriculture Commissioner will submit reports and Agriculture Minister Dutta Bharne will hold field visits and recommend action to the Cabinet before any formal application for Central aid is made.
- Opposition leaders are pressing for immediate cash compensation of ₹1 lakh per hectare and full loan waivers, a demand that could shape the state’s relief package and has raised pressure on the government to speed disbursements and water-supply measures.