Bengaluru, Oct 1 (IANS) As the drought situation in Karnataka worsens, Deputy Chief Minister and Revenue Minister G. Parameshwara has written separate letters to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, seeking urgent assistance from the Centre for affected farmers.
Parameshwara said the State government had already submitted its Kharif 2026 Drought Memorandum, seeking Rs 3,705.30 crore for 101 drought-affected taluks.
Following further scientific assessment, another 76 taluks were declared drought-affected, taking the total to 177.
Ground-truthing is underway in another 40 taluks, and the number of drought-affected taluks is expected to cross 220 by the end of the monsoon season, he said.
Crop loss assessment in the newly declared 76 taluks has identified damage to crops across 26.08 lakh hectares and horticultural crops across 1.49 lakh hectares.
Crop damage ranges from 33 per cent to 100 per cent, with a significant portion of the affected area recording losses of more than 50 per cent.
Tur, maize, cotton, sugarcane, soybean and green gram are among the major crops affected, while onion, arecanut and red chilli are among the horticultural crops that have suffered damage.
Overall, crop loss in the 76 newly declared taluks has been reported across 27.57 lakh hectares, with the economic loss estimated at Rs 27,576.2 crore.
Under existing State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) norms, the required input subsidy has been estimated at Rs 2,981.34 crore.
Across all 177 drought-affected taluks, crop damage has been reported over nearly 47.09 lakh hectares, with the estimated economic loss reaching Rs 46,324.5 crore.
The total crop loss during Kharif 2026 is expected to exceed 55 lakh hectares.
The State Government has sought Rs 7,142.64 crore under National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) norms through the two phases of drought declaration.
Of this, Rs 4,998.60 crore is sought towards input subsidy and Rs 2,144.04 crore for measures, including fodder and drinking water supply.
In his letter to Amit Shah, Parameshwara urged the Center to expedite the long-pending revision of SDRF and NDRF relief norms, particularly the input subsidy for farmers.
He said the existing assistance was inadequate compared to the current cost of cultivation and actual crop losses.
In a separate letter to Chouhan, Parameshwara welcomed the Central team’s visit to Karnataka for drought assessment and requested that the process be expedited to facilitate the early release of relief.
“Considering the scale and severity of the present drought, the State and Union Governments must work in coordination,” Parameshwara said, adding that farmers must receive timely and adequate support and that the relief provided should reflect the actual losses they have suffered.
–IANS
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