The state government, which is grappling with cyclone and floods for the past five days, today declared another 166 mandals as drought affected.

This is in addition to the already declared mandals in the past. Earlier, 196 mandals in 7 Districts- Kurnool, Ananthapuramu, Chittoor, YSR Kadapa, Prakasam, Nellore and Srikakulam- have been declared as drought affected during South West Monsoon, 2015.

Now, government has added another 166 mandals to the list of the drought affected mandal from 9 districts namely Prakasam (35), Guntur (26), Ananthapuramu (24), Nellore (19), YSR Kadapa (18), Chittoor (16), Krishna (14), Srikakulam (8), Vizianagaram (3). With this the number of drought hit mandals has gone up to 262 out 670 mandals in the state. The drought is widespread in Rayalaseema. Out of 262 total mandals, 209 mandals are from Rayalaseema. Among the Rayalaseema, Ananthapuramu tops the list with 63 mandals.