BENGALURU: Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwara on Wednesday said crop and economic losses across the initial 101 taluks declared as drought-hit stand at approximately Rs 18,000 crore.
“The state will soon submit its first formal memorandum to the Union government seeking disaster assistance strictly as per NDRF norms, with subsequent supplementary memorandums to follow as assessments conclude,” Parameshwara, who also holds the revenue portfolio, told reporters.
The 101 taluks have already been officially declared drought-hit based on satellite imagery, soil moisture, and dry-spell criteria mandated under the 2020 central manual. Ground truthing is ongoing across another 42 taluks (24 completed, 18 under way), he said.
Parameshwara recalled that Karnataka had sought substantial assistance during the previous drought but received just Rs 3,500 crore after approaching the Supreme Court. “We hope that it will not be repeated this time,” he said.
He also said the state will continue to seek assistance for farmers, including consideration of loan-waiver measures, while maintaining that a national-level farm loan waiver was primarily a matter for the Centre. “When Dr Manmohan Singh was PM, the Centre had waived off Rs 72,000 crore farm loans across the country.
Let BJP leaders, including state MPs, take a delegation to the Centre to get the waiver. Previously, the state governments, including the coalition government (Congress-JDS alliance headed by H D Kumaraswamy) had waived off farm loans,” he said.