Tuesday, August 07 , 2012 - 5.55 GMT
The government has allocated 3.7 billion rupees to provide relief for the people affected by the current drought weather conditions.
The current dry weather conditions have affected over 20,000 farmers and over 16,000 acres of paddy land have been destroyed by the drought in the North Central and North Western Province, Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has instructed Agrarian Services and Wildlife Minister S.M Chandrasena to provide speedy relief to the drought affected farmer community.
Farmers in five drought-affected districts will be provided necessary chemical fertilizer and seed paddy free of charge for the next Maha season in addition to 6,000 rupees given for each drought affected farmer family.
Minister Chandrasena said that relief will be provided to the affected families before the 15th of next month.
Relief to the drought affected is being provided by the Ministries of Irrigation and Water Resources Management, Economic Development, Agriculture, Agrarian Services and Wildlife and Disaster Management.