Devendra Fadnavis Leads Minister Village Stays Amid Maharashtra Drought

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis directed all state ministers to spend the Diwali holiday in villages to provide moral support to farmers facing a severe drought. As part of this initiative, Fadnavis stayed with the Balpande family in Lohari Sawanga village, where he assessed the impact of the crisis on soybean, cotton, and orange crops and met with local sarpanches to discuss infrastructure needs for roads and ponds.

To provide immediate financial relief, Fadnavis ordered the transfer of Rs 5,000 advance payments to approximately 1.50 crore farmers. The Government of Maharashtra allocated Rs 7,500 crore for these disbursements, with strict instructions to banks to prevent any deductions from the payments.

Addressing long-term solutions, Fadnavis announced the Wainganga-Nalganga river-linking project in Vidarbha, which aims to bring 10 lakh acres of land under irrigation. He noted that similar projects are planned for North Maharashtra and Marathwada. Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the initiative, which Fadnavis stated was inspired by Modi's sensitivity toward the poor.