JOIN USCentral team visits 3 dists
The team inspected the withered kharif crops in Sharana Sirasigi, Kollur, Hadagil Haruti, Gobbur (B), and Chowdapur in Gulbarga and Afzalpur taluks in Gulbarga district and heard the farmers’ grievances. Though the region is receiving rain for the past four days, it will not benefit the farmers as the kharif crops sown in the fields have withered. They demanded a compensation of Rs 10,000 per acre. Speaking to reporters later, Union Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperative Department, Joint Secretary Jiji Thomson said the situation in the district is grave. As the tanks have dried up, supply of fodder and water for the livestock will be affected, he observed.
Deputy Commissioner K S Satyamurthy told the team that the district has suffered an estimated crop loss of Rs 595 crore and sought an assistance of Rs 615 crore for relief measures.
Speaking at Koppal, Joint Director, Ministry of Finance, Dr A K Raina, who is a member of the Central team said, as the State has already declared the district drought-hit and requested the Centre for grants, the team would assess the situation here and submit the report within 15 days.
The team visited the select agriculture fields in a few villages of the taluks in the district and spoke to revenue officials and farmers. A member of the team said they would present the findings of the report at a meeting scheduled to be held in Bangalore on August 26.
The experts have observed that Tumkur district is witnessing the most severe drought in the last six years. In Pavagada, the team found that nearly 80 per cent of groundnut crop was damaged. The situation in Madhugiri and surrounding villages was no different. The farmers in Sira and other places threatened that they would leave to Bangalore or Anantpur in search of jobs en masse, if they don’t receive any help.
Deputy Commissioner Dr C Somashekhar appraised the team of problems faced in the drought-hit Madugiri sub-division and other places.