Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Revenue Minister G. Parameshwara said on Tuesday that 25 more taluks had qualified for designation as drought-affected areas and would be officially declared soon, as the state continues a phased assessment of drought conditions.
Speaking to reporters near his residence in Sadashivanagar, Bengaluru, Parameshwara said drought assessment had not been completed and was continuing in stages. The state has already declared 101 taluks drought-affected in the first phase, while inspections for the second phase are under way.
“Twenty-five taluks have qualified to be declared drought-affected areas and will be declared soon,” Parameshwara said, according to Prajavani. He added that the assessment would continue until the state’s southwest and northeast monsoon performance had been evaluated.
The minister said Karnataka could ultimately see more than 200 taluks classified as drought-affected this year. He said nearly 200 taluks had been declared drought-affected during the previous assessment and claimed that drought conditions currently prevailed across most of the state, except in coastal areas.
Parameshwara’s remarks came amid protests by some legislators, who have alleged that their taluks were deliberately left out of the drought-affected list. Rejecting the allegation, he said there was no need for concern and that no one in the state government had a role in selectively excluding taluks for political reasons.
He pointed to the inclusion of taluks represented by opposition legislators in the existing list as evidence against the allegation. “Drought has not occurred by looking at political parties,” he said, according to the report.
The minister also explained that the state could not independently declare drought-affected areas solely to seek assistance from the Centre. He said the declarations were made under central government rules and required satellite-based assessment, ground-truthing and scientific study.
The process is significant because a state declaration based on the prescribed assessment framework is linked to requests for central drought assistance. Parameshwara said the government was proceeding with patience so that the state’s claim for relief would not be affected.
The 25 additional taluks have not yet been formally notified in the material available. The next official step is the state government’s announcement of the second-phase drought-affected list after the ongoing assessment is completed.
