The State government has sought Rs.1,416 crore from the Union government to tackle drought in 138 taluks of Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddarmaiah has said.
Addressing a function organised to mark the unveiling of two statues of Chhatrapati Shivaji here on Wednesday, he said that the State was facing one of the worst droughts this year and the government was doing its best to provide relief to the people.
Though the State government had requested the Centre to provide Rs.1,416 crore, the latter provided only Rs.160 crore so far. However, the government had facilitated Rs. 300 crore to tackle drought.
He reiterated that funds would never be an issue to provide drinking water to the people in villages.
Mr. Siddaramaiah thanked Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for releasing 1 tmcft of water into the Krishna. The State government had asked for release of 8 tmcft of water. “Hopefully, Mr. Fadnavis will consider releasing 7 tmcft of water soon,” he said.
Mr. Siddaramaiah thanked Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar and the former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan for their efforts in convincing the government to release water to Karnataka.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has announced that he would tour some of the drought-affected villages of Belagavi district on April 25. He has so far visited six districts of north Karnataka.
