Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has scheduled a meeting with sugarcane farmers and factory owners on October 26, as the state seeks the Centre’s intervention on farmer demands, drought relief and worsening water shortages in key river basins.
Shivakumar said Union Minister Prahlad Joshi had initially agreed to attend the meeting but later conveyed that he would be unable to participate. According to the Chief Minister, Joshi assured him that necessary steps would be taken at the Centre and that instructions would be issued to the concerned Central Government officials.
“First, we have called a meeting of sugarcane farmers on the 26th and have also invited the factory owners,” Shivakumar told reporters before leaving for New Delhi. He said the issue was not confined to Karnataka and affected several other states as well. The state government has consequently sent some officers to the Centre, he added.
The meeting comes as Karnataka faces water stress in the Cauvery and Tungabhadra river basins. Shivakumar said there was insufficient water in the Tungabhadra system and no adequate water in the Cauvery basin, while farmers’ demand for water remained high. He also referred to difficulties involving the release of water into channels and said the absence of rain had made a drought action plan necessary.
The Chief Minister said he had asked Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu either to hold discussions in Andhra Pradesh or meet in Karnataka regularly, noting that water availability was also limited there. He said Karnataka would need to meet the Prime Minister and the Home Minister on the drought situation.
Shivakumar also said a team of state officers had been assigned to study drought-relief demands raised by other states. A further Central team would need to visit Karnataka, he said, indicating that the state’s request for relief would involve administrative assessment as well as political coordination.
The October 26 meeting is expected to bring farmers and sugar factory owners into the same discussion. The source report did not specify the agenda’s detailed demands, the number of participating factories or any decisions on financial assistance, sugar prices or water allocation. Those details are expected to emerge through the meeting and subsequent discussions with Central Government officials.
