Karnataka Seeks All-Party Delegation for Drought Relief from Centre

"Karnataka facing drought of severity not seen before": G Parameshwara urges opposition to join state delegation to Centre

Tumakuru, October 6

Speaking to reporters, Parameshwara expressed disappointment over statements indicating that opposition parties might skip the joint mission, stressing that the unprecedented scale of the dry spell requires a collective voice before the Union government.

"Karnataka is facing a drought of a severity not seen before... Most probably, the Chief Minister, myself, and a delegation will go and meet the Prime Minister, the Union Agriculture Minister, and the Home Minister, who is in charge of disaster management... We want to take an all-party delegation, but statements have come from opposition leaders that they are not going to join us... I appeal to them to join us in the delegation," he said.

Emphasising the urgency of securing financial support, the Deputy Chief Minister noted that the state is grappling with its most severe dry spell in recent memory.

"This year, our drought situation is very bad. We have never seen this kind of drought situation in our state at any time. Myself and the Chief Minister are continuously touring the state to monitor the situation," he said.

Parameshwara pointed out that following the Karnataka government's memorandum to the Union government, three Central teams are currently conducting on-ground assessments across various districts to review the drought situation in the state.

"After our submission of the memorandum to the Government of India, the Government of India has sent three teams to assess the drought situation in our state. Three teams have gone to different districts to assess the situation practically, and they are still assessing the drought situation in the state. They will be completing their assessment by tomorrow evening, and after that, there will be a debriefing by our Chief Secretary and officers. Then they will submit a report to the Government of India," he added.

Recalling the relief allocation during the 2023-24 financial year, Parameshwara expressed hope that the state would not have to approach the judiciary for drought funds this time.

"Last time also, in 2023-24, the same drought teams had come from Delhi and submitted their reports. A loss of nearly Rs 49,000 crores was estimated. We asked for Rs 18,000 crores, and after the intervention of the Supreme Court, they gave us Rs 3,500 crores. This year, hopefully, that situation will not arise," he remarked.

The Karnataka government has estimated drought-related losses of Rs 46,324.50 crore across 177 affected taluks and sought Rs 7,142.64 crore in financial assistance from the Centre under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for relief and mitigation measures following the Kharif 2026 drought.

The State initially sought Rs 3,705.30 crore for 101 drought-affected taluks and subsequently submitted a supplementary memorandum seeking an additional Rs 3,437.34 crore after another 76 taluks were declared drought-affected, taking the total assistance sought for all 177 taluks to Rs 7,142.64 crore.

The State declared 101 taluks drought-affected on August 27, followed by 23 more on September 17 and another 53 on September 22, taking the total to 177. Ground-truth verification is also underway in 40 more taluks.

The State has sought Central assistance, citing the extent of crop damage and the need to provide relief to farmers, livestock and drought-affected communities, besides meeting drinking water requirements in the affected areas.

— ANI