Karnataka drought loss at Rs 35k cr, govt begins mitigation work

Bengaluru: In a first, Karnataka has prepared a drought mitigation plan to deal with the vagaries of monsoon that have left farmers in distress, with the current year's loss alone pegged at Rs 35,162 crore.

The State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) has released over Rs 350 crore in the last three months for relief measures in 236 drought-hit taluks. The department has proposed a memorandum to the Centre seeking assistance of Rs 18,171 crore. However, the government has come up with plans to go beyond relief measures to look at mitigation.

The SDMA under the disaster management wing of the Revenue Department will spearhead the project to come up with mitigation measures. This will be boosted by concurrent efforts to strengthen the SDMA itself. A part of the Rs 5,000-crore World Bank-assisted programme approved by the Cabinet this week will make the SDMA focus more on mitigation.

"The risks posed by climate change are diverse from consistent drought to sudden floods. We are preparing the SDMA to develop expertise to take up adaptation and mitigation measures with a focus on agriculture. This will begin at setting the basics right, from rainwater harvesting to the changes needed in crop pattern... we are taking up long-term measures to mitigate the damages and build climate resilience," Revenue Minister Krishna Byregowda said.

Rashmi V Mahesh, Principal Secretary to the Revenue Department (Disaster Management, Bhoomi and UPOR), said the technical advisory committee of the National Disaster Management Authority has already approved the drought-proofing scheme under the drought manual.

"Under the scheme, several interventions will take place at community and gram panchayat level. Agriculture, animal husbandry, RDPR and minor irrigation departments are addressing sectoral problems which will look at both immediate and long-term solutions," she said.

Along with the Rs 100 crore from the NDMA, the department proposes to boost the efforts with an additional Rs 100 crore from the state disaster mitigation fund. A proposal for the same will be placed before the Cabinet sub-committee. This includes individual interventions to help farmers through the existing Krishi Bhagya Scheme as well as community interventions at gram panchayat where works will be taken up under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

Considering the critical importance of dairy farming during crop loss, the authority is coming up with a system to ensure the availability of fodder during drought situations. In a first, the SDMA has written to the animal husbandry department for details on milch cows under the jurisdiction of each gram panchayat. "The plan is to buy fodder from farmers in February and March to meet the shortage in the case of drought," the official added.