NEW DELHI/MYSURU/BALLARI/BENGALURU/ KALBURGI: The Centre has sent a team to drought-hit Karnataka for assessing crop damage, even as the monsoon has revived in parts of the state.
A team comprising two officials from the Centre and one from the state will visit Mysuru, Ramanagaram, Mandya and Hassan on Thursday and Ballari district on Friday, sources said.
“Karnataka has declared drought in 27 districts out of 30. We have sent a team to the state to assess the situation,” Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said.
The south-west monsoon has revived in Karnataka which is facing acute rainfall deficit and low water level in reservoirs.
Despite poor rainfall in the first three months of monsoon, several parts of the state received significant amount of showers in the past few days.
The Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Cell (KSNMDC) has forecast rain in parts of North and South Interior Karnataka over the next three days.
Since September 1, South Interior Karnataka has received 83.7 mm of rainfall, as against the normal of 22.9 mm. Similarly, North Interior Karnataka has recorded an average of 52.5 mm, as against an average of 29.3 mm. In Malnad region, it has been 16 per cent above normal. However, rainfall has been deficient in coastal regions during the said period.
A scientist at KSNMDC told Express that rainfall was expected to continue in South and North Interior Karnataka. Rainfall in some catchment areas along the Malnad region will also increase the inflow into reservoirs in Northern Karnataka. He added that even though several districts in South Interior Karnataka had received showers, catchment areas for the reservoirs in the Southern part of the state have not recorded enough rains. As a result, inflow into reservoirs in the south has only shown a marginal increase, he said.
Central Team Greeted by Rain in K’buragi
The Central study team, which commenced its inspection of drought-hit areas in Hyderabad-Karnataka region from Nadi Sinnur village in Jewargi taluk on Wednesday, was greeted by heavy rain.