CM Siddaramaiah's SOS to Centre: It's really bad here

Vijayapura: Wrapping up his whilrwind tour of drought-hit areas in Vijayapura district on Monday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced that he was sending a team of his ministers headed by agriculture minister, Byre Gowda, to Delhi to request Central assistance of Rs 1,416 crore for drought-relief work in the state.

Mr Siddaramaiah said he would shortly hold a meeting in Bengaluru to review the implementation of the Multi Village Scheme (MVS) to provide drinking water to dry areas of the state.

While admitting that he had received complaints about ineffective implementation of MVS in many areas, he said, he would review the scheme and ensure that it was implemented better.

He also directed officials of Vijayapura to ensure there was adequate storage in all fodder banks and prevent illegal supply of fodder to other states as farmers here needed it more.

Several farmers, who spoke to the Chief Minister in drought -hit areas like Atharga and Jodigudi pleaded with him for government financial support as they had lost their crops in the absence of rain.

They also urged him to waive their crop loans to help them tide over the crisis. Vijayapura Deputy Commissioner, D Randeep, for his part, said  that drinking water was being supplied to 164 villages where there was an acute shortage of it.  Arrangements had been made to rush 610 water tankers to rural pockets and 55 to urban localities. Ten fodder banks had been opened in areas which did not have enough of  it and cattle houses had been set up to feed cattle, he added.

Lime board to come up in Vijayapura
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is keen to set up a Lime Development Board in Vijayapura district where lemons are grown in but fail to fetch a good profit for growers.

The Chief Minister has insisted that the Horticulture Department send a proposal to set up the board and assured that it would be cleared immediately. The lemon crop  grown in 5000 acres of land in Indi taluk have totally failed owing to poor rainfall and the drought situation in Vijayapura district in recent weeks.

The board which is expected to operate like Coffee Development Board in the state is expected to boost lemons production in Vijayapura and other neighbouring districts. Already, the Horticulture Department in Vijayapura has been able to provide an effective market to horticulture crops like grapes, pomegranate and other fruits grown on a massive scale.

A large portion of grapes and pomogranate from Vijayapura are being exported to many foreign nations. In the near future, the government is keen on giving an effective platform to lemon producers in the state to market their yield effectively by utilising facilities to be extended by Lemon Development Board.

According to the Vijayapura Deputy Commissioner, most horticulture crops in Vijayapura, a dry area, depend on irrigation. Since the lemon crop is not grown in irrigated stretches, farmers had to suffer losses due to scanty rainfall this season.