New Delhi: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and requested for a release of Rs 12,272 crores for drinking water and fodder.

Official sources said that Siddaramaiah explained to Modi about how the state incurred loss of crops worth Rs 15,635 crores in 27 of the 30 districts during the the kharif season of 2015-16 crop year, while crops worth Rs 7,000 crores were estimated to have been affected during the rabi season because of drought in 12 districts.  

Modi said Rs 603 crore would be made available with Karnataka in 2016-17 for water conservation and drought proofing under various Central government schemes. Similarly, Rs 830 crore would be available under various agriculture schemes.

It is also said that Siddaramaiah sought Modi’s intervention in solving the dispute over sharing water of the river Mahadayi and thus facilitate completion of Kalasa-Banduri drinking water project which would help provide water to thousands of people in parched districts of north Karnataka.

Siddaramaiah after the meeting told reporters that he was happy as for the first time, the prime minister held a meeting with the state to take a stock of the situation.

Siddaramaiah also said that the Prime Minister promised him to study the proposal on granting fund and take immediate steps to release Rs 723 crore for disbursal among farmers who have suffered crop loss during the rabi season.