Bengaluru: With pockets of south interior receiving deficient rainfall, drought is looming large over Karnataka, fourth year in a row. The water level in reservoirs in the state is low. The State government had a meeting on Wednesday which asked cabinet sub-committees related to agriculture, drinking water and other subjects to prepare contingency plans to face the impending crisis.
The State’s food grain production target of 130 lakh tonnes for the current year will be hit due to the monsoon failure. As many as 136 taluks were declared drought-hit last year by the State government.

Law and Parliamentary Affairs minister TB Jayachandra said that the current situation will lead to the withering of crops. “Crops over vast swathes of land will wither if we don’t receive rains in the next one or two weeks across south interior Karnataka. The poor level of storage of water in our reservoirs in Cauvery and Tungabhadra basins leave no scope for releasing water for agriculture,” he said.

Jayachandra further said that certain plans were drawn for judicious use of water in the reservoirs. The available water in the Cauvery basin would be used for meeting the drinking water needs. Water cannot be released for crops unless rains are received before August, he said.