Maharashtra has so far received Rs 574 crore from the Centre towards drought relief work in the state, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said today.         Chavan, who chaired a meeting of the cabinet, said that the state government has provided Rs 414 crore for supplying water in the scarcity-hit areas.        

As many as 1,663 villages and 4,490 "wadis" (hamlets) were facing acute water scarcity. Water was being supplied there through 2,136 tankers, he said.         Officials and activists have warned that the current drought, which has affected 14 districts, will be severe than the one in 1972, the worst Maharashtra has ever faced.        

With no means of livelihood left in many drought-hit rural areas, families of farm labourers and workers at brick kilns and construction sites have started migrating to cities in large numbers.