Pune:Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule directed banks not to visit farmers’ homes for loan recovery due to the prevailing drought situation and asked officials to explore whether the RBI could issue a circular suspending such recovery proceedings.

During a meeting of the Bawankule-headed drought relief cabinet sub-committee on Tuesday, directives were also issued for implementing a 10 per cent water cut in urban areas and to maintain the conserved water as a buffer until June next year, according to an official release.

At present, water is being supplied through 560 tankers in the state, it stated, as the panel members suggested proper planning to preserve drinking water supplies for 10 months, before the next monsoon.

The Maharashtra government has declared drought in 265 of its 358 talukas, or 74 per cent of the state, amid rainfall deficit, and announced relief measures, including crop loan restructuring, land revenue concessions, and power bill subsidies.

It has activated ‘Trigger-1’ under its manual for drought management 2016 (updated in 2020) and Drought Management Code to declare drought conditions and initiate relief.

Trigger-1 is the first stage in the state’s drought framework, activated by a rainfall deficit of more than 25 per cent combined with a prolonged dry spell of 21 days.

According to Principal Secretary Vinita Ved Singhal, scarcity conditions have been reported in 265 talukas of the state based on information received from divisional commissioners. Drought conditions have become evident under the ‘Trigger-1’ criteria, while 43 talukas have qualified under ‘Trigger-2’.