Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (MS)

Bengaluru, Jan 13: The state was hit by both drought and floods in 2019. The government had declared that 49 taluks in 18 districts were affected with drought while flood showed its wrath in 22 districts. The government also assured the farmers of drought-hit areas that it will get funds from the central government in October 2019. However, the distraught farmer are still waiting for the compensation.

The state government did a blunder by not sending a memorandum to seek relief funds for drought-hit areas as it was engrossed in the by-elections for state assembly. Now it is trying to cover up its mistake by giving up some technical reason for not getting the funds.

According to G S Srinivas Reddy, director of Karnataka State Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSDMC) the state of Karnataka is not considered for drought relief because the rainfall during the Kharif and Rabi seasons was not short by the standard measure. That is why the government did not send the memorandum according to the explanation given by Reddy.

Gadag, Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Belagavi, Yadgiri, Kalaburagi, Raichur, Koppal, Ballary, Chamarajnagar, Davanagere, Chitradurga, Tumkur, Chikkaballapura, Kolar, Ramnagara and parts of Bengaluru Uban and Rural were declared as affected by drought by the respective department in 2019.

Declaring an area as drought-hit is the first step in seeking funds for relief from the central government under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). But the government did not follow up on the same as it was busy consolidating its position in the state assembly.

From June 2019 most of the drought-hit taluks had a dry spell for nearly four months. Sowing was done in only 45% of the total area available for cultivation for the same reason. However, these areas, which were declared drought-hit by the state, started receiving rains in the months of October and December more than normal. However, the sowing period was already over during this time.

Bayya Reddy, president of Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha says, "Agriculture in the state went from bad to worse in the year 2019 as the farmers could not sow because there was no rain during that period. Technically the state has received 54% more rain but not during the agricultural season."

Now the only option left with the state government is to provide relief to the affected farmers from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). However, only Rs 305 crore is left in this fund, which is utterly insufficient to meet the huge requirement. Though the state was allotted Rs 1,527 crore under SDRF between 2015 and 2020 most of it was used up as there were floods and drought every year.