Thiruvananthapuram: In the wake of poor monsoon and water shortage, the state has decided to declare nine districts as drought-hit.

Alappuzha, Kannur, Idukki, Kasargod, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Palakkad, Thrissur and Wayanad district would be declared drought-hit.

The decision in this regard was taken by State Disaster Management at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The authority issued necessary directives to the State Relief Commissioner to make the official declaration in this regard.

The districts are being declared drought hit based on various Parameters like lack of monsoon, non-availability of surface and ground water and salt water in the region. As per the IMD (Indian Meteorological Department) data, in 2017 these districts recorded considerable dip in North East monsoon during October -December.

The union Meteorological Department has also warned of acute drinking water shortage in these districts. Though there's no drought-like scenario in Idukki, the district was also included in the drought-hit list considering a possibility of water shortage during the peak summer season.

Urgent steps will be taken for drinking water distribution in drought-hit districts. Water kiosks will be filled with water from tankers. In case of non-availability of funds from the local bodies, money from the state disaster response fund can be utilised for the purpose.

The Authority meeting chaired Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who's also the chairman of the Disaster management authority, was attended by Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan, Agriculture Minister
VS Sunil Kumar, Chief Secretary Paul Antony, Revenue Secretary PH Kurian and Authority Member Secretary Sekhar Kuriakose.