Maharashtra Expands Drought Declaration to 305 Talukas and Credits Rs 5,000 to Farmers Before Diwali

Maharashtra's cabinet on Wednesday expanded the drought-affected list to 305 talukas out of 358, more than 85 percent of the state's administrative units. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced the addition of 40 talukas after evaluating complaints against the earlier declaration of 265. All 12 standard state drought relief concessions now apply across the expanded list, including crop loan restructuring, land revenue concessions and electricity bill subsidies for agricultural pumps.

Fadnavis said Rs 5,000 will be deposited in the bank accounts of affected farmers before Diwali as an advance. Full administrative and central assessment procedures cannot conclude before the festival, he said, so the state chose an immediate transfer. An authenticated list of another 3.5 lakh farmers has been processed for scheduled debt relief payments in parallel. Banks and credit societies have been warned against coercive recoveries.

Drought declarations normally occur by the end of November, with relief reaching farmers in December. The government advanced the notification this year because of the severity of the dry spell. Groundwater levels in Marathwada have fallen by more than three metres. The state will deploy GPS-tracked water tankers and has already disconnected more than 16,000 illegal connections. Educational fee waivers apply in the affected areas.

The earlier September declaration covered 74 percent of the state after an 18.8 percent rainfall deficit from June to mid-September, with actual rainfall of 755.9 mm against a normal of 932.3 mm. Marathwada and Vidarbha recorded the largest shortfalls. Districts including Solapur, Latur and Amravati saw deficits of 40-50 percent. Standing crops of soybean, cotton, millet and pulses suffered, and orange orchards in Amravati faced widespread damage.

Fadnavis noted that the state will submit a detailed memorandum to the Centre seeking additional relief, supported by data that meets Union norms. An inter-ministerial group is expected to meet soon. Crop insurance payouts will be coordinated separately. The advance Rs 5,000 transfer is designed to give farmers cash for festival expenses while the larger assessment proceeds.

For rural households the combination of expanded coverage and the pre-Diwali credit changes the immediate cash position even if longer-term compensation takes weeks. The scale of the declaration means most of the state's agricultural workforce now falls under the relief framework. Monitoring of tanker deployment and loan recovery practices will determine whether the package reaches the intended recipients before the festival.

The decision also sets a precedent for earlier drought notifications when dry spells intensify rapidly. Previous years saw declarations closer to the end of the monsoon assessment window. The current expansion reflects both the rainfall data and political pressure from affected districts to include additional talukas that filed complaints.