The State government will take steps to fill tanks using water from the Narayanpur Left Bank Canal, Madbal Bank Canal and the Bhima to meet the drinking water crisis ahead of the onset of summer, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj H.K. Patil has said.
Khusbhoo Goel Chowdhary, Deputy Commissioner, and Avinash Menon Rajendran, Chief Executive Officer, Yadgir Zilla Panchayat, had been asked to submit a proposal, the Minister told presspersons after a review meeting here on Friday.
Mr. Patil, who is also the chairman of the Cabinet sub-committee on drought and floods, said the State was facing a severe drought. “As many as 37 villages in the district are facing drinking water problems. Officials should supply water by tankers to them on priority,” Mr. Patil said.
Jowar, groundnut, sunflower, cotton and other crops were found damaged during field visits and according to an official report, the crop loss has been estimated at Rs. 331 crore for the kharif season and Rs. 318 crore for the rabi season. Properties worth Rs. 14.88 crore too had been damaged. A detailed report would be submitted to the government, Mr. Patil said. He said that the proposal would seek compensation for those who had cultivated on irrigated land too.
Ms. Chowdhary has been directed to ask bankers to set up centres on revenue office premises and the zilla panchayat office enabling farmers to deposit 1.5 per cent of the premium for the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojana within December 31, Mr. Patil said.
The Deputy Commissioner had also been asked to deposit premium on behalf of farmers who were unable to deposit it owing to demonetisation. He said that officials had released compensation to the families of 25 farmers who had committed suicide.
To a question, he said that he would request Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to earmark additional grants in the next budget to strengthen taluk and gram panchayats.
Priyank Kharge, district in-charge and Minister for Information Technology and Bio-technology; Tanvir Sait, Primary and Secondary Education Minister; Baburao Chinchansur, chairman, Karnataka Border Area Development Authority; Basareddy Anapur, president, Yadgir Zilla Panchayat; and Aditya Amlan Biswas, Regional Commissioner of Kalaburgi Revenue Division, were present.
