PUNE: The drought in Maharashtra can result in law and order situation if the government does not address it properly, said Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, calling the drought in the state ‘unprecedented’. The NCP veteran said that according to the information he has collected from the state government officials, agriculture cannot get any water from December to June, even if the returning monsoon gives some showers. “The situation is exceptionally dangerous. I fear that the drought can become a law and order issue. I have not seen a situation like this in my 50 years in public life. We need to plant till July as food is not a problem but drinking water and fodder is big issue,” he said. Pawar is expecting to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the second week of September. “The central government can give fiancial help. The Prime Minister has faced droughts in Kutch region as Gujarat CM,” he added. Pawar toured the Marathwada region in August followed by parts in western Maharashtra. “The reservoir position is such that even if we get some rain from the returning monsoon, we will not be able to give any water to agriculture during December to June. This can ruin agriculture and the industry dependent on it,” he said. Lamenting that the state government has discontinued the practice of government consulting all party leaders in exceptional situations like drought, he has made demands for drought relief. He demanded that the state government should start cattle camps in all the drought affected areas of the state and not restrict them only to three districts. The state government has issued a government resolution to set up cattle camps in the three districts of Beed, Osmanabad and Latur to provide fodder at subsidised rates for a maximum of five animals. “This shows that the government is not aware of the wide spread of drought in the entire stretch from north Maharashtra (Khandesh) to Sangli/Satara in western Maharashtra and other districts of Marathwada like Parbhani, Nanded etc. The chief minister should think that he represents entire state and not restrict cattle camps to just five animals and the fodder should be given total free of cost,” said Pawar. Chief minister Devendra Fadanvis has been criticising the earlier Congress-NCP government in the state for alleged corruption in cattle camps. “I have instructed all the co-operatives and people in public life related our party to stay away from starting cattle camps, so that they do not become responsible to tarnish the image of the current government. Let the state take the responsibility of starting them,” said Pawar. Pawar demanded that the state government should make provision for paying electricity bills of schemes for lifting drinking water, which have not been working for non-payment of bills. He also demanded that there is need to provide employment to farm labourers. “Unlike the 1972 drought, when food was an issue and people demanded work, today, farmers are not asking for work due to the development that has taken place. There is no paucity of foodgrains either. But the farm labourers need to be given work,” he said. Lastly, he asked for waiving fee of students from drought affected areas, who are taking higher education in bigger town/cities and provide them financial assistance to take care of their expenses on living and food so that they do not lose an academic year. He demanded that the state government should divert huge funds for drought relief, even if they have to be diverted from other developmental works. The NCP has also been demanding loan waiver for farmers in the state. “We will keep on pushing this demand. But our first priority is the get immediate measures for drought relief,” said Pawar. Reacting to agriculture minister Eknath Khadse’s indication that the state government may not allow sugarcane crushing in drought affected areas, Pawar said, he is okay with the decision as long as the state government buys the sugarcane from farmers and uses it as fodder. “Unless the farmers get compensation for their cane, we cannot accept the policy of not-crushing it,” he said. Though Pawar said that his party does not want to politicise the issue of drought, he has threatened that if the state government does not take any concrete action for drought relief by September 14, his party members will do ‘jail bharo’ agitation along with their cattle. Criticising the state government for not foreseeing the drought, Pawar said, “During my rein as Union agriculture minister, I used to take forecast from the American Navy, which has one of the most powerful forecast models in the world, from England, Germany, Japan and IMD, Pune. All these give about 92% clear picture of the ensuing monsoon rainfall. I had received the forecast of the impending drought during July to September in peninsular India this year too, despite not being in power. The chief minister too should have known it.” The Tata’s own five dams in Pune district region. When asked about using water from Tata dams for drinking water purpose, Pawar said that electricity can be purchased from other regions, but it is difficult to get drinking water from other places.