27 more UP districts declared drought-hit

New Delhi, July 26 (ANI): The total number of draught-hit districts in Uttar Pradesh has reached 47, after the state government declared 27 more districts as drought-hit on Sunday.

"In the interest of farmers, we have relaxed measures for declaring districts as drought-hit due to which 27 more districts are found to be affected by drought. With this the total number of drought-hit districts has gone up to 47," chief secretary Atul Kumar Gupta.

Under the directions of chief minister Mayawati, districts which had received less than 40 per cent was less than 75 percent had been declared drought-hit, he added.

It was also decided to declare districts, which received 40-60 per cent rainfall and where sowing of crops was less than 50 per cent, as drought-hit.

According to Gpta, 13 districts -- Agra, Shahjahanpur, Saharanpur, Faizabad, Meerut, Mahoba, Aligarh, Jyotibaphule Nagar, Balrampur, Etah, Rampur, Ghaziabad and Gautambuddha Nagar which received less than 40% rainfall have been declared drought-hit.

Similarly, 14 districts-Banda, Mathura, Allahabad, Auraiya, Jalaun, Kanpur, Varanasi, Chandauli, Moradabad, Azamgarh, Siddharthnagar, Badaun, Sitapur and Firozabad -- received rainfall between 40-60% have also been declared drought-hit.

Earlier, the state government had declared 20 districts as drought-hit and realisation of all revenue dues pending on farmers has been postponed.

The districts which were declared drought-hit on Saturday were Mainpuri, Kanpur Dehat, Bareilly, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Raebareli, Fatehpur, Sultanpur, Hardoi, Basti, Kanshiram nagar, Sant Kabir Nagar, Ballia, Unnao, Deoria, Mau, Ambedkar Nagar and Mahamaya Nagar (Hathras). (ANI)