A 10-member inter-ministerial central team (IMCT) led by Ajeet Kumar Sahu, IAS, Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, will visit 13 drought-hit districts of Karnataka for a four-day visit from Thursday to assess the drought situation across the State.
The team members, sub-divided into three groups, will visit Belagavi, Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Dharwad, Gadag, Koppal, Ballari, Vijayanagara, Chickballapur, Chitradurga, Tumakuru, Davanagere, and Bengaluru Rural districts of Karnataka.
On October 9, the final day, team members would hold talks with senior officials and Ministers concerned in Bengaluru, according to a programme list released by the government.
In 195 taluks
The State government has declared drought in 195 taluks out of 236 taluks in the State owing to deficit rainfall during the Southwest monsoon. As per the Centre’s guidelines, Karnataka has 161 taluks suffering from severe drought. Another 34 taluks have moderate drought.
Overall loss caused by drought in Karnataka has been estimated at ₹30,432 crore. According to the memorandum submitted to the Centre, the total estimated loss caused to agricultural crops is pegged at ₹27,867.17 crore and horticulture crops at ₹2,565.7 crore. The government has decided to seek relief of ₹4,860.13 crore from the Centre as per NDRF norms.
As per NDRF norms
As per NDRF norms, Karnataka can claim ₹3824.67 crore for agricultural crop loss and ₹206.39 crore for horticultural crop loss.
The government is seeking ₹126.36 crore to set up 624 fodder banks, ₹104.33 crore for 195 cattle centres, ₹25 crore to provide nutritious food, ₹50 crore for fodder-seeds supply, ₹284.4 crore for drinking water supply in rural areas for 180 days and ₹213.98 crore for the same in urban areas.
In August, Karnataka had urged the Union government to bring changes to the Manual for Drought Management 2016 (updated in 2020) for the declaration of drought by States. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had said it is necessary to have different parameters to declare drought in 14 agro-climatic zones in Karnataka in the light of dire situation caused by erratic weather conditions propelled by climate change.
More work days
Owing to drought, the government has already proposed to extend the working days of MGNREGA workers from 100 to 150.
