CHENNAI: The State government declared six districts as moderate agriculture drought affected districts.

Areas where crop damage is more than 33 per cent due to insufficient rainfall during the entire season of North East Monsoon 2022 from October 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022, have been declared as moderate agriculture drought affected.

According to Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue and Disaster Management) Kumar Jayant, 25 blocks of Pudukkottai, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Tenkasi, Thoothukudi and Virudhunagar districts have been declared as moderate agriculture drought affected blocks.

The official directed the State Relief Commissioner to take necessary action accordingly.

“If the monsoon falls below a certain percentage, the agriculture process will suffer and groundwater level will decrease. Due to this, there will be hydrological drought during summer. When such a situation arises, the government will declare those areas as drought-affected,” said a senior official of the agriculture department.