State's northern parts reeling under drought, but the govt is not bothered, they say.
Farmers in North Karnataka—which is synonymous with drought—are watching with trepidation the imminent onset of another drought, but the state government is still ‘observing’ the situation, rather that devising a strategy to cope with the calamity.
Officials of the agriculture department admit that the situation has forced cultivation to be restricted to just 50-70% of farm land in the area. The officials have concluded that insufficient rain has impacted 40% crops.
Ashok Budihal, farmer and fertilizer vendor at Devara Hippargi in Bijapur district, said farmers who have already suffered crop loss are hoping for rains in the Pushya Nakshatra, normally due by end of July.
“Now there is no possibility of sowing sajje (pearl millet) and hybrid jowar, which are major food grains in the region. We are just hoping to sow toor and cotton if we receive good amount of Pushya rains,” he said.
A gram panchayat member at Kataral village in Koppal district said farmers have given up hopes of a kharif crop. “As the land in our Yelburga taluk is not fertile enough for sowing alternative crops, we are waiting for Hingaru [Rabi] season,” he said.
The wrong picture
Angered by the lackadaisical attitude of the government, Shrishail Sangalad, a farm hand in Hunasagi of Yadgir district, charged officials of addressing the situation only when they receive hefty grants from the state government. He said politicians, lulled by the pictures of filled-up reservoirs and lakes, were under the illusion of the entire state having received copious rain.
“Today, I heard that 15,000 cusecs of water from Lalbahadur Shastri reservoir [Almatti dam] is being released to Basava Sagar [Narayanpur dam], which is now useless for us. If the water had been released 15 days ago, we could have sown paddy here. Now the sole option is to wait for the rabi season,” he said.
Officials at Upper Krishna Project, Almatti, said water from the dam is normally released in the third week of July every year, but this season it was released early on instructions from irrigation minister MB Patil.
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