BENGALURU: The state government on Friday declared another 22 taluks as drought-hit. With this, the total number of drought-hit taluks in the state has reached 216, out of 236 taluks. Of them, 186 are severely affected. The government announced the list of 22 drought-hit taluks based on crop surveys conducted over the last week and the ground-truthing report from local officials. The notification was issued on Friday.
Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said that another memorandum will be submitted to the Centre next Monday, seeking additional relief funds for the state. The state has an opportunity to seek an additional drought relief of Rs 300-350 crore as per Central government guidelines, the minister said.
In the first phase, 195 taluks out of 236 taluks were declared drought-affected and there was a demand to declare the rest of the taluks also as drought-affected. On September 22, the state appealed to the Centre for relief funds and the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) visited the state to assess the situation. After its three-day visit to the state, the officials of the IMCT were convinced about the drought situation, said a note issued by the minister’s office.
The state government had sought meetings with the Union Home Minister and Agriculture Minister to explain the drought situation in the state and submit a plea. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had also written to the Centre, requesting time for the meeting. Gowda said the state government will again seek time to meet the Union Home Minister and Agriculture Minister.
During the meeting with officials on Friday, Gowda expressed displeasure that the Centre does not have accurate data on the number of small farmers in the state, as a result of which the state is being treated unfairly in the drought relief fund. “There are 68-70% small farmers in the state. However, according to the previous census of the Centre, it was only 45 %. Therefore, the drought relief fund that is being released to state is also unfair,” he stated.