VILNIUS, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Lithuanian government on Wednesday approved a proposal by the National Crisis Management Center and the Agriculture Ministry to declare a national emergency due to heavy rains this summer.
Deputy Agriculture Minister Andrius Palionis told the Cabinet meeting that the proposal was made because 13 municipalities have already declared an emergency situation, and it will help farmers to be more flexible in meeting their obligations, the Baltic News Service (BNS) reported.
According to the Agriculture Ministry, this summer, some parts of Lithuania have reported as much rainfall in a day as they normally do in a month. In July alone, the average rainfall across the country reached 167 percent of the monthly norm, and in some places, the precipitation volume exceeded the norm by two or three times.
The ministry noted that declaring an emergency situation would allow sanctions not to be imposed on farmers and farms unable to meet their obligations due to exceptional circumstances. ■
