Telangana to seek special financial package from Centre to tackle potential El Nino impact: Ponguleti

A State delegation led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy will meet the Prime Minister and other Union Ministers in New Delhi to seek a special financial package to address the potential impact of El Nino on Telangana, Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy said on Sunday.

Speaking at a meeting in Kusumanchi after distributing Kalyana Lakshmi cheques to beneficiaries, the Minister said the delegation would submit a representation seeking adequate financial assistance and additional workdays under the VB-G RAM G Scheme.

Citing the anticipated intensification of El Nino conditions, Mr. Reddy urged farmers to avoid taking up a second crop in view of the potential impact of El Nino.

He said the State government was making efforts to save the first crop already cultivated and appealed to farmers to follow official advisories.

On the power situation, the Minister said electricity was becoming difficult to procure, even at ₹15 per unit, compared with ₹7-8 per unit earlier. He attributed the situation to prevailing “power shortages” in the country.

He directed the officials to take advance measures to prevent drinking water shortages in the coming months in view of depleting groundwater levels.

Earlier, the Minister laid foundation stones for several development works  in the mandal, including an overhead water tank, pipelines and BT roads.