Bangalore, May 8 (PTI) Facing flak over handling of the
drought situation, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today
directed top officials to ensure relief works on a war footing
in the state where 125 taluks have been declared drought-hit.
Addressing top officials of different departments in the
presence of senior ministers, Siddaramaiah said funds were not
a constraint for providing drinking water and fodder and added
that Rs 516 crore had been released so far for drought relief
works.
Governor H R Bhardwaj had last week openly expressed his
unhappiness over the government's handling and said the Chief
Minister must activate the administration to deal with the
drought conditions.
KPCC Chief G Parameshwara had also asked the Chief
Minister to speed up relief works by taking "proactive steps."
Principal opposition BJP had in a memorandum to the
Governor yesterday had accused the government of "gross
negligence" and sought his intervention to "wake up
Siddaramiah and his cabinet colleagues from their deep slumber
and focus their attention on combating drought with all
seriousness."
In the meeting today, Siddaramaiah said 10,163 villages
in 125 taluks were facing scarcity conditions, of which 1086
villages were hit severely. Badly affected villages were being
water through tankers.
Fodder banks had been opened and there was enough stock to
meet the needs for the next 26 weeks, he said.
Rural and Panchayatraj Development Minister H K Patil,
Energy Minister D K Shivakumar, Law and Animal Husbandry
Minister T B Jayachandra and Revenue Minister V Srinivasa
Prasad and senior officials of the departments concerned were
present at the meeting.
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