The Maharashtra government has sent out a resolution that declares drought in 29,000 villages, most of them in Marathwada and Vidarbha. The state government’s corrigendum from Wednesday says wherever any official reference is made to a “drought-like situation”, it should be treated as “drought”, PTI reported.

The government was responding to a series of petitions in the Bombay High Court on the state’s water crisis. In its affidavit, the state claimed it was implementing its drought-relief schemes, especially in the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions, which are in dire condition.

On May 7, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and requested Rs 10,000 crore as relief for the parched state. Of this, Rs 7,500 crore was to be spent on completing irrigation projects in Marathwada and Vidarbha over the next three years, while the remaining would be used for projects in Western Maharashtra.