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Karnataka farmers incurred loss of ₹30,000 cr due to drought: CM Siddaramaiah
This has resulted in crop loss on 42 lakh hectares of agricultural land, and 216 out of the 236 taluks have been declared drought-hit
Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday said that the state’s farmers have suffered losses amounting to ₹30,000 crore due to drought this year. This has resulted in crop loss on 42 lakh hectares of agricultural land, and 216 out of the 236 taluks have been declared drought-hit.
“There is crop loss of 42 lakh hectares in the state. The farmers have incurred a loss of ₹30,000 this year. As per the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) norms, we have sought ₹4,860 crore from the union government and the central team has visited the drought-hit areas,” Siddaramaiah said at the inauguration of historic Mysuru Dasara festival.
The chief minister mentioned that the state government had earlier declared drought in 195 taluks of the state. “Now, again after the meeting, the cabinet sub-committee has announced drought in 21 taluks. In all, 216 taluks have been declared drought-hit,” he said.
In response to the drought, Siddaramaiah said the state government will provide input subsidies to the farmers for drinking water, fodder, water for the cattle, employment and other relief measures. “This year’s specialty is that we are witnessing green drought, where crops have grown but there is no yield,” he noted.
The state government on Friday issued an official notification declaring 22 more taluks drought affected, based on another round of crop survey and ground truthing report conducted in the past one week.
Out of these, 11 taluks have been identified as facing ‘severe drought’. With this, a total of 216 taluks out of the total 236 taluks in the state have been declared as drought affected, which includes 189 severe drought-hit and 27 moderate drought-hit taluks.
According to revenue minister Krishna Byre Gowda, another memorandum will be submitted to the central government on Monday seeking additional relief funds for the state. The state has an opportunity to seek an additional drought relief of ₹300-350 crore as per the central government’s guidelines, the minister said.
Former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday warned the state government of an agitation along with the farmers, if four more districts - Haveri, Shiggaon, Hanagal and Byadgi - are not declared drought-hit by Monday. Bommai alleged that the government is delaying declaring these districts as drought-hit, knowing that the situation is grim. “In case it is not done, a protest will be launched after October 9.”
Earlier this week, farmers association leaders who are protesting the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, met Karnataka governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot on Friday, and appealed to him to direct the state government to convene a special session of the state legislature to discuss the issue. Farmer leader Kuruburu Shantakumar among others submitted a memorandum to the governor, and said that over 300 farmers have died by suicide in the state due to rain deficit.
(With inputs from PTI)
