State's claims on drought for real: Central team

Karnataka has sought Rs 2,605.99 cr

Citing that the drought situation in the State is indeed of a serious nature, the Central team which visited the State to assess the drought situation in December has opined that there is no exaggeration in Karnataka’s claims.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Bijay Kumar, Managing Director of National Horticulture Board, Ministry of Agriculture, Gurgaon, who headed the 10-member team, said besides extensive crop damage, the 99 drought-hit taluks were grappling with severe drinking water problem.

“It’s wrong to perceive that the governments declare drought only for political reasons or with malafide intentions. It’s not always the case. In case of drought, the nature of damage is always progressive. The impact is seen in phases. As Karnataka is also heavily dependent on monsoon, when there is a deficit in rainfall it affects the people in one way or the other. There is indeed a lot of hardship in these districts and this has been highlighted,” he said. He submitted the report to the Centre in the last week of December.

The government, which has spent Rs 90 crore till now, has sought Rs 2,605.99 crore from the National Calamity Contingency Fund to take up drought relief measures. Of the Rs 90 crore, Rs 63 crore was the amount received under the annual State Disaster Response Fund.

Kumar said that the situation in Karnataka was not as grave as it is usually in other states.

“Karnataka luckily does not have many social problems like uncared for orphaned children or destitute women, which usually aggravates during a natural calamity. Hope that the effects of cyclone ‘Thane’ will improve the situation in these water starved taluks.”

The team, which was divided into four groups, toured the State between December 15 and 17. While the first team visited Chikkaballapur, Tumkur, Hassan; the second team visited Chitradurga, Gadag, Koppal; the third team went to Gulbarga, Bijapur, Yadgir, Raichur; and the fourth team to Kolar, Chitradurga, Haveri and Dharwad.

‘Worst monsoon’
As per the government’s memorandum submitted to the Centre seeking a total of Rs 2,605 crore, 207 hoblis falling in 99 taluks of 23 districts were declared ‘drought affected’ on October 4 and November 8, 2011. However, by December 15, 2011, only 103 hoblis in these 99 taluks were categorised as ‘drought affected’.

The monsoon deficit in June-July and the subsequent failed monsoon between September-December in interior parts of Karnataka is said to be one of the worst since 1971. This has affected the kharif and rabi crops severely in these parts. The crop loss incurred is Rs 4,544.84 crore.