The State government is planning to support farmers in north Karnataka who have suffered heavy losses due to unseasonal rain and hailstorms, Revenue Minister V Srinivas Prasad said on Wednesday.
He told reporters that the Union government, which had sent a study team to assess the crop damage in Belgaum, Bijapur, Koppal and Bagalkot districts, has released `82.77 crore for the purpose.
According to the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), `4,500 per hectare should be paid for agriculture crop losses and `12,000 for horticulture crop losses, he said.
“We have decided to go beyond the norms and pay `15,000 and `40,000 respectively. This will lead to a burden of `326 crore on the state exchequer. But Chief minister Siddaramaiah, who is also the Finance Minister, has directed the department to release additional funds in this regard,” Prasad said.
“In Maharashtra, farmers affected unseasonal rain get `10,000 for agricultural crop losses and `25,000 for perennial crop losses. Our compensation is more comprehensive and attractive than the Maharashtra model,” he said.
Replying to questions, Prasad said standing crops in over 15,000 hectares in nine districts have been destroyed by hailstorm.
The drought situation in the state is worsening and 721 tankers have been supplying drinking water to over 4.52 lakh people in more than 532 villages, he said.
“We have directed the district administration to ensure that surface water is utilised only for drinking purposes,” he explained.
The Union government has released `169.15 crore from the NDRF and the state government has released funds to supplement the drought relief works, he added.
Regularisation of Rural Land: New Deadline
The government has decided to extend the deadline for filing applications seeking regularisation of unauthorised government land by three months for construction of houses in rural areas under Section 94(C) of the amended Land Revenue Act. It will be announced soon, Prasad said.
“The decision to extend the deadline (which was March 3 earlier) was taken recently by the Cabinet sub-committee taking into account the election code of conduct which hindered submission of applications,” he said.