HYDERABAD, Feb 16: Feasibility reports of over 50 development schemes proposed under the Drought Emergency Relief Assistance-II programme were discussed at a meeting held at the Shahbaz hall here on Tuesday.

The schemes pertained to water management, agriculture, forest, livestock, poultry, community welfare, environmental and public health engineering sectors. DCO Mohammad Hussain Syed presided over the meeting.

He told the meeting that four talukas of the district, Hala, Matiari, Tando Allahyar and Tando Mohammad Khan, had been included in the DERA-II programme under which Rs600 million would be utilized to provide economic as well as basic living facilities to inhabitants of remote areas of the talukas.

While giving details of development proposals of the agriculture sector, he directed the EDO, agriculture, to prepare PC-I of model projects about farm reservoirs, sprinkler and trickle irrigation system, mobile veterinary units, one each at drought-affected talukas, and organizing agriculture awareness programmes/workshops to promote fruit, vegetable and flowers crops. He also directed the EDO to organize a workshop on mango in the first week of March.

The DCO also asked the agriculture official to prepare a feasibility report about establishment of nurseries of Amaldas, Argan, Ber, Jantar, Jaman, Babul, Polar and other trees at each drought-affected taluka of the district with a view to enhancing agriculture productivity by reclamation of land through biological drainage, checking and reversing the process of environmental degradation and desertification through community forestry.

The EDO was also asked to prepare a feasibility report with PC-I for model project of a milk and meat village.