Drought dominates Guv's address as Maha Budget session begins

Facing heat from Opposition over the agrarian distress Maharashtra government on Wednesday said that bringing solace to droughthit farmers is of primary concern to it and revealed that it has already disbursed Rs 2536 crore for their reliefThe state is facing drought for the fourth successive year and nearly 15750 villages are adversely affected in the current Kharif season Governor C Vidyasagar Rao said in his address to the joint sitting of the state legislature on the commencement of the budget session even as the opposition slammed the BJPled Government over the issueThe Central Government has approved relief assistance of Rs 3049 crore which is the highestever central assistance given to Maharashtra he said adding till date the state government has disbursed Rs 2536 crore to droughtaffected farmersAs soon as Rao reached the Vidhan Bhavan to deliver his address the opposition Congress and NCP members were on their feet attacking the government for ignoring farmers plight and favouring dance bar owners insteadAs he began the speech enumerating several development measures taken by the state government opposition members sought to disrupt him with the refrain talk about farmersWe want loan waiver for farmers Down with the government which has ignored farmers they said We want a legislation banning dance barsThe Governor said the government has decided to extend relief assistance to the people who suffered crop loss house damage due to unseasonal rains and hailstorm in 2015 The Centre has revised the norms of relief assistance under State Disaster Relief FundAccordingly the state government has adopted the enhanced financial assistance norms with effect from April 1 2015 he said He also said that the government has decided to waive three months interest on loans availed by farmers who lost their crop due to natural calamities during NovemberDecember 2014 and FebruaryMarch 2015To help droughthit farmers 33 per cent of the current electricity bills have been waived On the lines of Krishi Sanjeevani Scheme the Paani Sanjeevani Scheme has been started which will benefit 50000 drinking water schemes of local bodies Rao saidEarlier setting a new precedent the ruling BJPShiv Sena accorded a Guard of Honour to the Governor as he arrived in the Vidhan Bhavans forecourt for his joint address to both Houses of the LegislatureAs Rao arrived he was greeted by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Assembly Speaker Haribhau Bagade Council Chairman Ramraje NaikNimbalkar and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Girish Bapat with a bouquetLater a contingent of Mumbai Police gave him the Guard of Honour and police band played the national anthem The Governor also said that rejuvenation of farming in droughtaffected areas is the biggest challenge before the state To conserve and harvest every drop of rain water and to utilise it judiciously for farming is the need of the hourHe said the Shivaji Maharaj memorial off Mumbai coast will be completed by 2019 I am happy to inform that all clearances have been obtained for constructing the national monument of revered Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj A project management consultant has been appointed for the purpose The government intends to complete the work before 2019 Rao saidThe state government has already announced the construction of a memorial for Balasaheb Thackeray at Dadar in the heart of Mumbai and action is being taken to set it up at the earliest he said adding land had been allotted at Aurangabad for a memorial of Gopinath Munde He said the government is serious about and sensitive to the MaharashtraKarnataka border disputeThe government has appointed the Minister for Public Works Department and Cooperation as state coordinator to deal effectively with the problems faced by the Marathispeaking people of Karnataka in disputed areas he saidAnnouncing a host of development projects Rao said that the BelapurPendar Metro Project having length of 11 km in New Mumbai will be completed by July 2017To improve public transport system in urban areas workso n Mumbai Metro Rail Line3 and also on Nagpur and Pune Metro projects will commence soon he saidOut of the 118km Metro Rail Project planned for next 34 years the Dahisar to Dadabhai Naoroji Nagar route of 185 km and the Dahisar East to Andheri East route of 165 km with an estimated cost of Rs 12000 crore have been approved he saidThe government has entrusted the responsibility to CIDCO for the development of a Smart City NAINA that consists of 30 towns around Navi Mumbai International Airport This will focus on areas relating to education medical entertainment logistic commerce science industry etc The state government has notified 600 sq km area for the purpose he saidRao said the state government has succeeded in improving the conviction rate in criminal cases from 36 per cent to 52 per cent over the past one yearHigher conviction rate will deter criminal and antisocial elements from indulging in unlawful activities he saidSafety of women and children is an important issue In Mumbai more than 90 women police patrolling teams have been pressed into service the Governor said