At a time when the Karnataka government has officially declared 137 taluks as drought-hit, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister H.K. Patil found himself in the middle of a controversy on Tuesday when he said there is no drought in the State. “We are only facing a severe summer,” he said.
The Minister’s reply came in response to a query during an interaction with presspersons on why he had not visited drought-hit areas earlier, even though the situation had been dismal for months. “This is not a drought. This is a severe summer. We have come here to see the effect of summer and drinking water shortage,” he said.
He had no answer when it was pointed out that farmers had failed to reap anything in the kharif and rabi seasons.
