AHMADABAD,
India (AP)--Still recovering from a devastating earthquake, western
India is now battling a drought that is hampering the region's
economic recovery, officials said Tuesday.
Gujarat and
parts of neighboring Rajasthan state have been declared drought
areas following two years of light monsoon rains.
Officials
said the drought has delayed recovery from an earthquake that
struck in late January, killing 20,000 people and burying entire
towns and villages.
To help spur
recovery, the government has begun 4,620 relief projects, employing
2.5 million people, said B.R. Patel, director of relief for the
Gujarat government.
Workers at
the government-sponsored projects are being paid 86 cents a day
and despite the meager pay, people are flocking to the projects
because they are so desperate, according to officials.
But nongovernment
organizations and opposition leaders have accused the state government
of not doing enough to alleviate the suffering of those hit hardest
by the earthquake and drought.
Amarsinh Choudhary,
a member of the opposition Congress party, said he knew about
at least three deaths due to malnutrition in north Gujarat in
April.
``Its a twin
tragedy for Gujarat,'' Choudhary said. ``First we had an earthquake
and now a drought.''
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