Mysuru: After the glitz and glory around the Dasara festival is over, it is time for not so good news. Believe it or not, CM’s home district-Mysuru has been declared drought-hit with all the taluks of the district reeling under severe drought. As per sources, the situation has only gone from bad to worse when compared to last year and the drought situation only exemplifies with the ongoing Cauvery water sharing dispute.
Last year, five of the seven taluks were declared drought hit, but this year all the taluks are reeling under drought. With this, even the estimated crop loss too has increased. Across the district, crop loss is reported in 1.18 lakh hectares and the loss has been estimated to the tune of Rs 74.31 crores which is almost double the last year estimated loss (last year Rs 37 crores). There are 1339 villages across the district and all the villages have been declared as drought-hit villages. This exposes the severity of the situation even as the state is fighting for Cauvery water in the Supreme Court. This is likely to affect the drinking water supply to Mysuru city given that the KRS and Kabini dams are used by the villagers for their drinking water needs.
After knowing the severity of the situation across the district, Deputy Commissioner D Randeep has started touring taluks since Wednesday. Apart from meeting taluk heads he is also having interaction with farmers who are facing problem due to lack of water. Already he has visited Nanjangud, HD Kote and Hunsur Taluk.
Speaking to NewsKarnataka he said “The government has declared all the taluks in the district as drought affected taluks. Hence to know the ground reality and to instill confidence among people apart from speaking to taluk officials I have started touring taluks. The overall loss due to drought situation across the district is estimated around Rs 74.31 crores.”
Somasundar, Joint Director, Agriculture Department, Mysuru district said “Last year five taluks that is HD Kote, Periyapatna, T Narasipur, Hunsur and Nanjangud Taluk were declared as drought affected taluks. The total loss estimated was Rs 37 crores and crop was destroyed in 58,125 hectares. More than 1,19,150 farmers across the district were affected with drought”.
