TPCC vice-president Kota Neelima said on Friday that the Centre is ignoring Telangana on drought relief. She accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of offering no central help on his recent Hyderabad visit and of "communal theatrics" instead. "Hindu-Muslim politics cannot address a drought," she said. "Farmers need relief, agricultural labourers need employment." She asked Union Ministers G. Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay Kumar to say what they had done to secure aid.
The drought in numbers
- On October 27 the state declared 365 mandals in 31 districts drought-hit: 111 severe and 254 moderate.
- Rainfall from June 1 to September 30 was 17% below normal (615.5 mm against 740.6 mm). Neelima put the deficit at 24% up to October 31.
- Paddy area fell from 69.19 lakh acres to 57 lakh acres.
- An Assembly resolution on September 18 sought ₹20,000 crore; the demand was later raised to ₹30,000 crore. The state also wants NDRF help, a central assessment team and 50 extra workdays under the rural jobs scheme.
Telangana Today and Siasat reported that the drought report reached the Centre on October 28, but no central team had been sent by November 3. Andhra Pradesh declared 388 mandals drought-hit on October 1 and a central team was deputed to visit.
The other side
The BJP had not responded to Neelima's statement. On October 29, BJP Kisan Morcha state president Baswapuram Lakshminarsaiah blamed the drought on the state government's incompetence, saying it ignored El Niño warnings from February, and demanded ₹30,000 per acre as compensation. BRS leader KTR said on November 1: "This is not a drought caused by nature; this is a drought created by Congress."
