Team Mangalorean

Mangalore: The current monsoon in Karnataka State has been the worst in the last four decades so far, and the remaining weeks of the season promise no hope either.Though the weather man predicts rains in Malnad, coastal and parts of south-interior Karnataka next week, the north Karnataka districts will have to endure a dry spell as there are no signs of any rain.

Out of  30 districts in the State, twenty-five districts have received deficit rainfall. The rain deficit in the state was 65 per cent in May and an alarming 37 per cent in June, while July brought a shocker –just 2 per cent of rainfall.

The State will be seeking assistance of Rs 9,206 crore from the Centre for coping with the drought. Union Minister Pawar is visiting the State to study and determine the severity of the drought faced by Karnataka. Aided by his cabinet ministers and his secretaries, Shettar is scheduled to make a detailed presentation before the Union Minister, who is traveling all the drought-hit States including Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

The State government which had declared 123 taluks drought hit, including19 more taluks in the list. The taluks are – Anekal, Bangalore North, Bangalore South, Bangalore East (Bangalore Urban); Hoskote, Nelamangala (Bangalore Rural); Ramanagara (Ramanagara); Malur (Kolar); Chennagiri, Harihara (Davangere); HD Kote, Hunasuru (Mysore); Gokak (Belgaum); Shikaripur, Shimoga, Bhadravathi (Shimoga); Chikkamagalur, Tarikere (Chikkamagalur); Alur (Hassan)