India, Oct. 8 -- An 11-member central inter-ministerial group started its Maharashtra tour on Thursday to assess the drought situation. Divided into three teams, they will visit Western Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha for the next four days. The group will meet representatives of the state government in Mumbai on the last day.

The first team will visit districts including Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Beed and Jalna, the second Ahilyanagar, Solapur and Pune, and the third Nagpur and Yavatmal.

The group began touring the state a day after chief minister Devendra Fadnavis met Union home minister Amit Shah and requested him for interim Rs.17,500 crore financial assistance. "The group will conduct ground inspections and verify the situati...