Drought: ‘One-size-fits-all’ approach won’t work, Siddaramaiah tells Centre

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has shot off a letter to Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar seeking relaxation in the norms for declaration of drought in the state.

Owing to stringent parameters for declaration of drought, farmers in the state are unable to get any government support such as input subsidy, even though delayed monsoon has impacted crop cultivation, Siddaramaiah said in his letter.

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"I firmly believe that it is crucial to re-evaluate the current parameters for drought declaration to accurately respond to the dire situation arising due to erratic weather conditions propelled by climate change and its adverse impact on our farmers and agriculture sector," Siddaramaiah said in the letter, which DH has seen.

“The current one-size-fits-all approach to drought declaration is not capturing the nuances and variations in different regions,” Siddaramaiah pointed out.

Illustrating the current situation in the state, he said throughout this monsoon season, the rainfall distribution and intensity has been erratic. Despite drought-like conditions in several taluks, the government has not been able to meet the parameters for declaring drought.

In the current south west monsoon, Karnataka recorded 234 mm as against normal rainfall of 336 mm, with 34 per cent deficiency. In June, there was 56 per cent deficiency owing to weak monsoon.

The Centre, which right now insists on a 60 per cent rainfall deficit as a qualifier for drought, must bring it down to 20 per cent, he has urged.

While the manual integrates meteorological, agricultural and hydrological drought, rainfall deficit can later recover because of sudden rains. This means, there will be no hydrological or meteorological drought. Nonetheless, scanty rainfall in the first half of the sowing season impacts agriculture and triggers agriculture drought. Moreover, the ground water drought index, insisted in the manual, may not appropriately capture ground water levels as the depletion in ground water is reflected only 2 or 3 years later, he added.

The state has also asked the Centre to lower the parameter specifying a continuous three weeks of dry spell as a qualifier for drought. "A dry spell of less than two weeks should be considered," the letter stated.

Further, the Centre wants the state to certify that no sowing activity will be taken up after declaration of an early drought. This must also be relaxed to allow farmers to take up sowing, Siddaramaiah has sought in the letter.