Telangana: Coordinate with revenue officials to identify drought-hit mandals: Tummala

Hyderabad, Oct 1 (UNI) Telangana Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao on Thursday directed officials to identify mandals facing rainfall deficits in coordination with revenue officials and submit the required data for preparing proposals to declare drought-affected mandals. At a review meeting, the Minister said drought assessment should not be based solely on rainfall deficit and should consider multiple indicators, including rainfall deviation, dry spells, sown area, soil moisture, reservoir and groundwater levels, crop conditions, drinking water and fodder availability, employment and migration. He directed officials to conduct field-level inspections wherever necessary to verify crop losses. According to the drought management…