The centre has sanctioned Rs588 crore as a relief measure in the 15 drought-hit districts of the state, announced relief and rehabilitation minister Patangrao Kadam here on Tuesday. The money will be released soon, he added. Following the state’s demand of Rs1,500 crore towards the Calamity Relief Fund (CRF), a central committee visited a few of the affected tehsils across the state and recommended an assistance of Rs1083 crore. However, the centre has sanctioned Rs588 crore for now. Kadam said, the funds allotted by the central government will be distributed as per the set norms.

The Central government has sanctioned Rs. 588 crore as drought relief for Maharashtra, which is reeling under the crisis, Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Patangrao Kadam announced on Tuesday.

The State whose 15 districts have been declared drought-affected, had appealed to the Centre for relief recently. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and representatives of all parties had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with a proposal for Rs. 2,700 crore.

State had sought . 2,281 crore for relief measures in 15 drought-hit districts. The union government has approved an assistance of Rs 575 crore to Maharashtra towards drought relief work. “The decision was taken on Friday by a high-level committee comprising finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, home minister P Chidambaram, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and planning commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia,” said an official who was part of the meeting.

It will be a while before Karnataka can expect any grant from the Centre for drought relief.

The Central drought assessment team headed by Parvesh Sharma on Wednesday directed the State government to furnish detailed statistics within a week’s time. The officials, at a meeting presided over by Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, expressed dissatisfaction over the information provided by the Gowda-led all-party delegation in its memorandum.

The Central team touring the State to assess the drought situation has concluded that the drought in Chitradurga district is severe.

A member of the team, D Rajashekar, Deputy Advisor, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, New Delhi, told mediapersons in Chitradurga on Tuesday that the water table had depleted and borewells have dried up. The team will recommend to the Centre in its report to roll out development schemes to alleviate the sufferings of the drought-affected, he said. He commended the officials for the drought-relief works taken up in the district.

Bangalore: Power struggle, politicking and blame game are keeping state BJP leaders busy. And there is no one to pay attention to the problems faced by drought-hit people in the districts. The chief minister, his colleagues and party legislators should have been helping out people of 123 drought-affected taluks. Instead, they have camped in New Delhi and Bangalore and are happily engaged in mudslinging and power-grabbing.

The Centre is expected to release a first instalment of about `700 crores assistance for drought relief works in Maharashtra in the next few days.

Union ministers Mr Pranab Mukherjee, Mr Sharad Pawar, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal and the deputy chairman planning commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia are expected to meet on this issue either on Monday or Tuesday, sources said.

The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee has set up an 'emergency assistance committee' to tackle issues related to scarcity of water and fodder due to drought situation in the state. The cell has been set up by MPCC chief Manikrao Thakre to coordinate relief efforts in view of the drought, MPCC spokesperson Sachin Sawant said here today.

The committee would be operational from May to June and will operate from the state Congress office at Tilak Bhawan in central Mumbai, Sawant said in a release.

The Government on Tuesday assured all “possible” help to drought-hit States, but ruled out any change in norms till 2015 for providing relief, rejecting demands for higher compensation by various Rajya Sabha members.

Cutting across political lines, members raised the issue of severe drought in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

BJP MPs demanded changes in norms for enhancement of compensation for drought. NEW DELHI: Opposition BJP walked out of Rajya Sabha as the government ruled out any changes in norms till 2015 for providing relief in cases of drought. The opposition members were not satisfied by the government's reply on discussion on drought situation in Karnataka. The MPs demanded changes in norms for enhancement of compensation for drought.