Karnataka: “Send A Central Team For First Hand Information On Prevailing Ground Realities In Karnataka Over Deficit Rainfall,” CM Tells PM
The prolonged dry spell has adversely affected standing crops and significantly constrained the progress of Kharif sowing across the State: Reports
BENGALURU: Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Tuesday drew the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to prolonged dry spell in Karnataka and asked the Prime Minister to depute a Central team to assess the prevailing situation on the ground such as low sowing and depletion of water storage in major reservoirs.
Stressing on early visits by a Central team to Karnataka, Shivakumar said “such a visit would provide a firsthand appreciation of the severity of the emerging drought conditions and reassure the farming community that the Union Government stands with farmers in this difficult period.”
In a letter to Narendra Modi, Shivakumar explained the monsoon has been an extremely erratic spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall. Among the four meteorological regions of the State, the Malnad region which constitutes the principal catchment of the Cauvery, Tunga and Bhadra river systems, has recorded the highest rainfall deficit of 34 percent followed by the Coastal region -30 percent, North Interior Karnataka -24 percent and South Interior Karnataka-18 percent.
As of the first week of July, the Chief Minister pointed to the Prime Minister that the Kharif sowing covered only 28.36 lakh hectares representing merely 34 percent of the seasonal target of 84.10 lakh hectares, reflecting the growing impact of the deficient monsoon on agricultural operations.
The prolonged dry spell has adversely affected standing crops and significantly constrained the progress of Kharif sowing across the State. As a result, farmers are facing considerable uncertainty, with many farmers reluctant to take up further sowing due to inadequate soil moisture and the continued absence of assured rainfall.
The prevailing hydrological situation in the State is also a matter of serious concern, said the Chief Minister and explained to the Prime Minister the substantial deficit in the upper catchment of the State’s major river basins is of particular concern. As on July 10, he said the combined storage in Karnataka’s 14 major reservoirs stands at only 303 tmc constituting merely 34 percent of the total gross storage capacity of 895.65 tmc.
Shivakumar said in view of precarious water availability, the State has taken a policy decision to accord the highest priority to the conservation of available reservoir storage for drinking water purposes only.