State seeks aid

IMPHAL, Oct 16: Due to the potential decrease in the State's agricultural production by almost 50 percent due to the lack of rainfall this year, the State Government has appealed to the Inter Ministerial team to provide 1000 metric tonnes of rice for Manipur.
It may be mentioned that following the announcement of the State as drought hit, a 12 member Inter Ministerial team led by Ministry of Agriculture Joint Secretary Dr Namita Priyadharshi reached Imphal on October 13 and conducted a survey of the drought hit areas of the State.
The team held a meeting with State Government officials at Classic Grande yesterday evening during which the team collected a report on the State Government's demands.
A source mentioned that Relief and Disaster Management in charge, Additional Chief Secretary MH Khan, Agriculture Commissioner M Joy, Relief and Disaster Management Director and Director of Agriculture were also present in the meeting.
The Inter Ministerial team confirmed that most of the agricultural lands of the State have been rendered useless due to the drought but it asked for further detailed reports regarding Fisheries, MGNREGS and Water Resources at the earliest, the source mentioned.
The source informed that during the meeting, the State Government appealed to the Inter Ministerial team to provide 1000 metric tonnes of rice to the State as relief measures.
The team left Imphal for Delhi today, the source added.