Telangana orders identification of drought-hit mandals
With drought looming over Telangana, Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao on Thursday directed officials to assess severity using multiple indicators and identify drought-hit mandals, and to determine crop losses through field inspections. Guidelines classify a 20-59% rainfall deficit as rainfall deficit, 60-99% as severe and no rain as extremely severe, while cropped area below 85% of normal indicates drought. He urged the Centre to procure Telangana's entire produce at MSP.