Drought: Govt bans inter-state fodder transport

Inter-state transport of fodder has been banned in view of severe drought in various parts of the state, Revenue Minister R V Deshpande announced here Friday.

The ban on fodder going into neighbouring states such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Goa will be in force till May 2019.

Deshpande also announced that the government would constitute four Cabinet sub-committees comprising senior ministers for each of the revenue divisions - Bengaluru, Mysuru, Belagavi and Kalaburagi. “These committees will tour drought-affected districts, hold meetings with stakeholders and guide district administrations in drought and mitigation,” Deshpande said. A secretary/principal secretary-rank officer will coordinate amongst the sub-committees.

The government has already notified 100 taluks across 24 districts as drought-hit this Kharif season, which has caused losses to the tune of
Rs 16,662 crore due to drought. The government has sought a financial assistance of Rs 2,434 crore from the Centre.

Employment days

“Agricultural activity will be subdued in the coming months, which could trigger migration. To arrest this, employment days under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Act (MGNREGA) will be increased from 100 to 150 days,” Deshpande said.

The government has provided Rs 220 crore with deputy commissioners to take up drought mitigation works, apart from Rs 50 lakh that has been approved for every drought-hit taluk to ensure availability of drinking water. As of now, Deshpande said drinking water was being supplied through tankers in 197 villages in 13 districts. “Drinking water situation is likely to exacerbate in the coming days. Private borewells will be identified for hiring if required,” the minister said.

The dry spell has continued in the state with a minus 49% rain deficiency in the Rabi season. According to Deshpande, the targeted area for rabi sowing is 31.8 lakh hectares. Till November 16, sowing was done on 20.76 lakh hectares against the normal 26.19 lakh hectares. “In this period last year, sowing was 28.22 lakh hectares,” Deshpande said.

Date extended

The State government has extended the time for those who are cultivating illegally on government lands to apply for regularisation as per Section 94A (4) of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act. The Form-57 can be submitted to the tahsildars till March 16, 2019, Deshpande said. “The government is developing a software to scan and collect all the Form-57s.”

2.56 lakh files disposed

Revenue authorities disposed of more than 2.56 lakh files during the ‘File Disposal Week’ from November 12 to 18, Deshpande said. “Going forward, we’ll try to evolve a different strategy to clear the remaining files,” he added.