CHITRADURGA: Agriculture Minister Cheluvarayaswamy on Tuesday said the ground and crop situation in 130 taluks that are facing a drought-like situation will be reviewed in the first week of September, and steps will be taken to declare these areas drought-hit.
After visiting various villages in the district, he said the crop situation report will reach the government on August 30, after which a decision will be taken. The state has recorded a 99 per cent deficit in rainfall in August, causing distress to farmers, he added.
The government will redress the problems of the 6.5 crore population in the state and the relief amount will be credited directly into the accounts of beneficiaries.
“The central government was requested to ease the conditions for declaring a drought, but we have not received any information yet. We are also trying to simplify the guidelines for disbursing the compensation,” he added.
Visiting Lakshmisagara village in Chitradurga taluk, he inspected maize, groundnut, cotton, ragi and other crops that have failed due to shortage of rain. The farmers, Salupanna, Shivamurthy, Eramma and Nagarajappa, gave an account of their suffering to him.
Chitradruga recorded
93 per cent sowing this monsoon season, but most crops are on the verge of failure because of lack of rain. If there is no rainfall in the next few days, drought will be declared, he said. An inter-departmental team will review the crop situation in the district and submit an actual report, based on which a decision will be taken. MLAs and ministers are pressuring the government to declare drought in various taluks and districts, he added.
District in-charge and Minister for Planning and Statistics D Sudhakar, MLAs KC Veerendra, T Raghumurthy, Agriculture Department Commissioner YS Patil, DC Divyaprabhu GRJ and others accompanied the minister.