The district unit of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene has urged the State government to declare Ballari district drought-hit and to take steps to effectively tackle the situation.
Addressing reporters on Tuesday, Darur Purushotamgouda, president of the unit, said owing to failure of follow-up rains, farmers of the district were facing a crisis.
Standing crops on around 1.95 lakh ha in rain-fed areas across the district are withering and are now being removed by farmers.
According to him, the plight of the farmers in the Tungabhadra command area is no better. They too are facing water shortage for the kharif crop cultivated on about 1.5 lakh ha this year, as the failure of rains means the storage in the dam is low.
On September 16, the Tungabhadra Irrigation Consultative Committee will meet in Bengaluru, with Santosh Lad, Minister for Labour and in-charge of Ballari district, in the chair, to review water availability in the dam and its allocation. Mr. Purushotamgouda urged the committee to consult farmers and take a decision protecting their interests.
‘On-and-off’ system
To a question, he said that introducing an ‘on-and-off’ system to utilise water would help protect the crop in command areas and ensure good yield.
Taking a dig at a majority of elected representatives from the district for not attending the ICC meetings, he said it had only worsened the the plight of the farmers.
He said the elected representatives of Koppal and Raichur dominate the meetings as only a couple of their counterparts from Ballari district participate usually.
“This year, farmers are facing crisis because of rain failure and low water storage. All our elected representatives should compulsorily attend the meetings and protect the interest of the farmers. Failing this, we, the farmers, will stage protest demonstrations in front of their houses,” he said.
The Tungabhadra Irrigation Consultative Committee will meet in Bengaluru On September 16
