Revenue Minister Kagodu Thimmappa on Friday said Rs. 60 lakh has been released to each taluk for tackling drought. He directed the district administration to ensure drinking water supply to drought-hit villages without holding back on expenditure.
Steps should be taken on a war footing to supply water in tankers as drinking water is indispensable, he said. He was speaking during a meeting convened by the Cabinet sub-committee on drought here. Mr. Thimmappa, who heads the committee, asked the Deputy Commissioner and the CEO of the zilla panchayat to ensure that drought relief works are executed effectively and without delay in all affected taluks. “You must monitor the works and [ensure] their speedy completion,” he said.
The Minister said the money sanctioned for drought relief works should be used only for that purpose and a report on the projects should be submitted to the government within a week.
The Minister said officials must look into whether the drinking water plants and the RO plants installed in the past are still functional. They should make personal visits to these plants and assess the situation, he said.
Deputy Commissioner D. Randeep said 12 water tankers have been pressed into service to supply water to villages in Jayapura, Yelwal and Kasaba hoblis in Mysuru taluk. They make four to five trips to the affected villages. Two tankers have been pressed into service for villages in Kasaba hobli in Nanjangud taluk.
He said the district administration’s estimate is that water has to be supplied to 71 villages in H.D. Kote taluk, 79 in Hunsur taluk, 30 in Mysuru taluk, and 86 villages in Nanjangud taluk in the days ahead. This will cost Rs. 861.84 lakh, he said.
Mr. Randeep said crop on 1,33,987 hectares of land is lost, including 1,24,532 hectares where the loss is estimated at over 33 per cent.
Ministers H.C. Mahadevappa, H.S. Mahadeva Prasad, Ramesh Kumar and U.T. Khader, MLAs Vasu and Sa Ra Mahesh, and senior officials such as district in-charge secretary M. Lakshminarayan were present.
Meanwhile, the Sugarcane Growers’ Association, led by its president Kurubur Shanthakumar, presented a memorandum to the sub-committee seeking waiver of farm loans, among other things, given the successive droughts in the State.
