100 taluks declared drought-hit: Government seeks financial assistance from Centre
New Delhi, October 30: As the state has incurred Rs 16,662.48 crore worth loss following crops damage due to drought situation, the state government has appealed the centre to provide Rs 2,434 crore compensation under Natural Disaster Relief Funds (NDRF).
After submitting a proposal to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Tuesday, Revenue Minister R.V Deshpande and Agriculture Minister Shivashankar Reddy told reporters that crops worth Rs 15,294.37 crore grown in 26.18 lakh hectares of land in the state was damaged due to drought situation. Apart from this, horticulture crops worth Rs 1,368.11 crore grown in 1.94 lakh hectares were also damaged. In view of this, the centre should immediately send a team of officials to study the drought situation, they demanded.
If the state had received good monsoon rains, sowing process would have completed in 74.69 lakh hectares. But till September end, the sowing was over in just 63.36 lakh hectares. In view of the drought situation, 100 taluks in the state were declared as drought affected. Out of 3,611 tanks under Minor Irrigation department, only 53 per cent of the tanks have water. Currently, drinking water is being supplied through tankers in 159 villages in rural areas and 136 wards in urban areas. For supplying drinking water, the government has taken over 203 private bore wells, they said.
For the livestock, the government has kept 98.26 metric ton fodder ready and it would suffice for next four months. In order to supply fodder in coming days, the government has distributed 8.11 lakh fodder producing kits to the farmers who have irrigation facility. If the drought situation continued in the same pace, the government has planned to open gaushalas and fodder storage centres, Deshpande said.
In order to handle the drought situation, Rs 100 crore and Rs 50 crore was released from the NDRF and the state government respectively. Out of this amount, each drought-affected taluk was given Rs 50 lakh. Total 6.36 lakh families in drought affected taluks were given jobs, for which Rs 1042.93 crore was spent, Deshpande said.
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KSRTC to run 1000 special services to clear Christmas rush
Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation will operate 1000 additional special services in view of the Christmas festival.
In addition to the existing schedule, the special services will run on 19.12.2025, 20.12.2025 and 24.12.2025. Further, special buses will be operated from various places of intra & Interstate places to Bengaluru on 26.12.2025 & 28.12.2025.
Special buses will be exclusively operated from Bengaluru Kempegowda Bus Station to Dharmastala, Kukkesubramanya, Shivamogga, Hassan, Mangaluru, Kundapura, Shringeri, Horanadu, Davangere, Hubbali, Dharwad, Belagavi, Vijayapura, Gokarna, Sirsi, Karwar, Raichur, Kalaburagi, Ballari, Koppala, Yadgir, Bidar, Tirupathi, Vijayawada, Hyderabad and other places.
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Special buses from Mysuru Road Bus Station will be exclusively operated towards Mysuru, Hunsur, Piriyapatna, Virajpet, Kushalanagar, Madikeri.
The corporation has also announced a discount of 5 per cent on the fare if four or more passengers book tickets under a single reservation. A discount of 10 per cent will be extended on return journey tickets if onward and return tickets are booked simultaneously.
In addition to the above, special buses will be operated from all Taluk/District Bus Stands in the jurisdiction of KSRTC based on the traffic needs.
