All the 44,000 applications seeking regularisation of ‘bagair hukum’ cultivation land should be cleared and cultivation chits should be given to the applicants by month-end, Revenue Minister Kagodu Thimmappa ordered all tahsildars in the district. He was speaking at a review meeting here on Wednesday.

“In spite of the government passing a law for the distribution of cultivation chits, there has been an inordinate delay on the part of the officials. It has come to my notice that applications that had been submitted 20 to 30 years ago seeking regularisation of ‘bagair hukum’ cultivation land in Chikkamagaluru district are pending,” said the minister.

When the tahsildar said that there is shortage of staff at Sringeri Assembly constituency, the minister said that citing a silly reason of shortage of data entry operators and typists cannot be accepted.

MLAs D N Jeevraj, B B Ningaiah and Y S V Datta brought the issue of delay in distribution of cultivation chits to the notice of the minister.

Jungle Lodges and Resorts president A N Mahesh said that title deeds under the Forest Rights Act have not been distributed to the forest dwellers in the district.

The minister said that the Act came into effect in 2005. “If the applicant has enough documents to prove that he was residing inside the forest for the last 75 years, then title deeds should be distributed to the applicants,” he explained.

MLAs sought additional funds to mitigate drinking water menace in the district. MLA D N Jeevraj said that with deficit rainfall, River Tunga has dried up. Hence, Sringeri taluk should be declared as drought-hit taluk.

Goshalas should be set up in the district, the legislators demanded. Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Dr R Ragapriya said that there is water crisis in 488 villages in the district. Water is being supplied through tankers in 132 villages.

As per a joint survey, crops on 57,873 hectare land were damaged due to drought. This includes agricultural crops on 48,572 hectare. A sum of Rs 15.44 crore has been credited to the accounts of farmers as compensation for the loss of crops. Deputy Commissioner G Satyavathi was present at the meeting.