State to seek drought aid from Centre

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that the state government will seek an aid of Rs 11,800 crore from the Centre to mitigate the drought in the state.

Speaking to reporters after chairing a drought review meeting at zilla panchayat auditorium here on Friday, he said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has convened a chief ministers meeting in Delhi on Saturday. I will impress upon the prime minister of drinking water scarcity and severity of drought situation in the state and will urge him to release a grant of Rs 11,800 crore to ease drought conditions.”

Last year, the farmers in the state had suffered Kharif crop loss to the extent of Rs 16,000 crore. As per the NDRF guidelines, there was a provision for a financial assistance of Rs 3,830 crore but the Centre had released only Rs 1,540 crore. The state government has distributed the said amount among the farmers, the chief minister said adding that BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa is not aware of facts and figures and keeps making baseless statements.

The state has suffered losses of Rs 7,000 crore following a poor northeast monsoon. As per the NDRF norms, the state was supposed to get Rs 1,416 crore. But the Centre has said that it would release just Rs 723 crore. Tell Yeddyurappa all this when he visits this region, Siddaramaiah said.

The chief Minister ordered the suspension of veterinary doctor Dr Shivaprakash for not taking steps to provide safe drinking water to cattle at Doddullarthi goshala in Challakere taluk.

He instructed the higher officials to suspend the vet doctor when he found out contaminated water in the tank at the goshala during his visit.