Karnataka minister led Cabinet sub-committee on drought instructs joint survey in 134 taluks

Bengaluru: The Cabinet sub-committee on drought in Karnataka led by Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Monday instructed district authorities to conduct a joint survey in 134 taluks and submit a report within a week after the completion of ‘ground truthing’.

Ground truthing is a process of comparing data collected through aerial sources like satellite imagery with that of physical measurements gathered at the ground level.

After identifying drought places, a memorandum will be submitted to the Centre seeking financial assistance, the Revenue Department said in a statement.

Also, the sub-committee has decided to form a task force under the chairmanship of MLAs at the assembly constituency level from the date of annoucing the drought-hit places, it added.

Expenditure on provision of emergency drinking water through tankers or rented bore wells to residential areas where there is shortage of drinking water will be defrayed through the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).

In the statement, the sub-committee said on August 19, a joint survey was conducted and it found that out of 113 taluks, 62 were eligible to be declared as drought affected places as per guidelines. However, after the joint survey, there were reports that the crop situation had worsened again. So, it was decided to conduct a joint survey again in the remaining 51 taluks.

It was also decided in the sub-committee to notify the deputy commissioners for ground truthing in 83 taluks.

”In total 134 taluks have been instructed to submit the report within a week after completion of ground truthing,” the statement said.

The sub-committee has decided to allot Rs 20 crore to the Animal Husbandry Department to distribute fodder sowing seed kits to the farmers in the coming days. Speaking to reporters after the sub-committee meeting, Minister Gowda said Karnataka has witnessed several fluctuations in the rainfall in the last three months of rainy season.

In June, the state suffered a drastic shortage in rainfall. In July, there was excess rainfall whereas in August there was deficit in the range of 60 to 70 per cent, he told reporters.

”The deficit in the rainfall has severely impacted crops across Karnataka. We had to declare complete crop holiday in some of the irrigated parts of the state. In the rain-fed areas, farmers have sown crops which have not sprouted in some areas. And if they have sprouted they have wilted away due to moisture stress in subsequent months,” the minister said.

Gowda said the guidelines designed by government of India for declaration of drought do not conform with the times of climate change. In June, there was a deficit. In July there was an excess rainfall and in August, there was a severe deficit, he added.