The State government will take a decision on declaring drought in Karnataka after July 10, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said in Belagavi on Friday.
He was speaking after holding a meeting of Revenue Department officers of northern Karnataka districts at the Suvarna Soudha.
“Rain has been delayed in several parts of the State. However, weather scientists are saying that rainfall intensity will increase in the next 10 days. We will also study the various guidelines regarding declaring drought and then take a decision,” he said.
He said that around 311 villages were getting tanker water and 387 private borewells were being taken over to supply water to habitations.
“It is not difficult to understand why the dams are empty. The Almatti dam has just around 1.9 tmcft of water, compared to 30 tmcft last year. Even with delayed rain, the dam should have had at least 25 tmcft of water. But it is strange to see that there is not enough stock even for drinking water,” he said.
The Minister reasoned that some wrong decisions and indiscipline in the management of reservoirs in the State had led to a situation where most dams were empty today. “I have asked all regional commissioners to study the condition of dams and submit a report,” he said.
To a query, he said it was possible that political leaders had forced the officers to release water from dams, before the Assembly elections. “We will study the issue in detail before coming to a decision,” he said.
