226 farmers commit suicide in Maharashtra

Aurangabad: At least 226 panic-stricken farmers from the scarcity-hit Marathwada region of the state have allegedly committed suicide by during the last 94 days since the start of this year due to scarcity of water, debt, land infertility and other reasons.
Nineteen more ryots had committed suicides during the past week, taking the toll to 226, as compared to 207 during the same period last year, sources in the divisional commissioner’s office said while citing the findings of a weekly report here.
The highest number of suicides (64) were reported in Beed district, followed by Aurangabad with 38, Nanded-36, Osmanabad-35, Nanded-33, Latur-20, Parbhani and Jalna-12 each, and Hingoli-9 with nine suicides.(UNI)