The Bombay High Court’s verdict against holding IPL matches in the drought-hit Maharashtra has hit the headlines catching many eyeballs. Quickly responding on the worsening drought condition in Maharashtra, Bollywood Star Akshay Kumar. Akshay has came forward and donated Rs 50 Lakh to the Maharashtra government.According to reports, 27,723 villages out of 43,000 villages in the state have been declared drought-hit, and 54 out of the 75 medium dams have been declared dry.
It’s reported that the state is left with as low as 380 cubic metres of water for use which is expected to be a death knell for farmers and their families.With things further worsening, the state government come up with an initiative Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyaan that aims at making villages drought-proof by developing water harvesting techniques including construction of ponds. Akshay has donated Rs 50 Lakh towards this cause.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis thanked Akki for his generous contribution.However, Akshay donating for cause is not something new. In the past too, when a top cop bring the issue of farmers suicides to the actor’s notice, Akshay had donated Rs 90 lakh to help support the 180 families of farmers who had committed suicide.
The other B-town stars who’re doing their bit to restore water resources in Maharashtra are Nana Patekar and Aamir Khan. While Nana along with few fellow actors from the Marathi film industry, took up a fund-raising initiative to help the agrarian families, Aamir launched a water management and decentralization initiative, the Satyamev Jayte Water Cup and also adopted two drought-hit villages.