Although a disaster management system to handle the drought crisis is still under works, the government had started taking necessary actions before the state governments acted, says Narendra Taneja, Spokesperson of the Bhartiya Janata Party.
He says the government has started releasing funds for relief and related schemes and will have a disaster management plan in place by May 30.
Earlier, Swaraj Abhiyan, a non-profit organisation, which had filed a public interest litigation seeking the Supreme Court's intervention to ensure adequate relief for drought-affected regions had pointed out that drought figures were grossly underestimated and indeed 54 crore people and not 33 crore, as stated by the government, were affected.
Congress Spokesperson Khushbu Sundar argues that the Modi government overlooked the problem.
While the drought situation should have been declared a national calamity, it took the SC to remind and pull up the government on its responsibility, she says.
Nitin Sethi, columnist for Business Standard, feels the first step to avert the crisis should have been reworking water links so that existing water facilities could be channelized to the needy areas.
This could have ensured at least basic water provision for people and livestock, he says.Watch video for more...
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