Minister for Energy K.J. George visited drought-hit fields in Kadur taluk in Chikkamagaluru district and interacted with farmers on Wednesday.
Prakash of Brahma Samudra and Chikkanna of Ramanahalli shared their experiences as farmers with the Minister. Both the farmers said they had lost hope of getting good returns from the ragi and jowar fields. The government should come to their rescue by extending relief, they demanded.
Mr. George, who is also Minister in charge of the district, said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had taken a special interest in tackling drought. “The government is making preparations to extend relief to all farmers hit by drought. As per the CM’s instructions, the Ministers are visiting fields to understand the ground realities,” he said. The Minister told the officers to visit the farm fields, collect data on the status of crops, and report the same to the government.
Later, the Minister held a meeting with officers at Kadur. He instructed officers to make the necessary arrangements for drinking water supply and fodder. The officers should identify private borewells for supplying drinking water through tankers if found necessary. He also suggested growing fodder in the Amrit Mahal Kaval lands.
Kadur MLA K.S. Anand, Chikkamagaluru MLA H.D. Thammaiah, Sringeri MLA T.D. Raje Gowda, Tarikere MLA G.H. Srinivas, Deputy Commissioner Meena Nagaraj, and others were present.
