Karnataka declares 195 taluks drought-hit, to seek relief from Centre
Karnataka on Thursday announced four-fifths of the state as drought hit – categorising most of them as severe – as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah began the first year of his second innings battling a severe scarcity of water.
The declaration for the next six months has been done in accordance with the Centre’s guidelines on the subject, and the state would soon submit a memorandum to the union government seeking assistance, Siddaramaiah told the media.
Karnataka has 236 taluks across 31 districts, and the government has declared 195 of them drought-hit, including 161 of them as severely drought-hit.
A detailed order by the government said, Karnataka received 56% less rainfall than normal in June and 73% less in August, which was also the lowest in 125 years. Only in July did the state receive 29% excess rainfall than normal.
Between June 1 and September 2, the state received a rainfall of 512 mm (normal: 701 mm), indicating a 27% drop.
The government announced cancellation of the famous Hampi festival this year citing the drought, inviting criticism from the Opposition BJP, which accused the government of failing to deal with drought and prevent farmer suicides.
BJP CRITICISM:
Protesting the cancellation of Hampi festival, the BJP taunted on social media platform X, that the Congress regime had money to buy luxury cars for ministers, build the statue of Rajiv Gandhi, but has no funds for Hampi festival, the pride of the state’s glory, culture and heritage.
The southern state is currently battling a crisis arising out of an order from the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) ordering it to release 5000 cusecs of water from KRS and Kabini reservoirs to Tamil Nadu for 15 days from Sep 13 morning. Karnataka says its current
