Another Summer Of Discontent

Karnataka is facing its fourth drought in a row. With the government clueless, farmers are preparing for the worst.

                                                                     

Parched In June, Karnataka received the lowest rainfall in 52 years.

A fourth consecutive year of drought has left a sword hanging over the necks of farmers in Karnataka. While the state government is making efforts on a war footing to contain the damage, it has been met with scepticism by farmers, who feel the measures are too little and too late to salvage the situation.

In the past four years, Karnataka has ranked second behind Rajasthan in terms of total area under drought. The drought is not just causing damage to agricultural production and losses in farmers’ income, but is leading to water scarcity and extreme poverty across the state. Last year alone, government estimates show that 15.45 lakh hectares of kharif area suffered crop losses of 50 percent or more. This year’s first crop, sown across 203 lakh hectares by 30 June, is already damaged. Now, only a miracle rain can save the second crop.

The monsoon, however, has continued to play truant. According to statistics available with the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Cell (KSNDMC), the state has been worst hit this year. This June received the least rainfall in 52 years. While the average rainfall for June was 195 mm, last month saw 116 mm. Reservoirs too have reached their lowest storage levels: at 166 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) against an installed capacity of 864 tmcft. Last year, at this time, the water levels were at 254 tmcft; 125 taluks across 30 districts in the state have been declared drought-hit. Farmers of north and interior Karnataka are the worst hit. The government is now advising them to grow alternative crops like pulses, ragi, maize and groundnut.

Nearly 56 percent of the workforce (76 lakh families) in Karnataka is engaged in agriculture and allied activities. Out of the state’s GDP of Rs 2.15 lakh crore, Rs 41,306 crore comes from the agriculture sector. But the sector has seen negative growth of 0.6 percent in the past five years.

The rainfall deficit is huge this year. Even though the coastal districts received some rainfall, the interior parts of Karnataka are reeling under drought,” says VS Prakash, former special director of the KSNDMC. “If we don’t get good rains by the end of July, the situation will worsen. The sowing will not happen in the targeted 74 lakh hectares.”

On the floor of the Assembly, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that his government has geared up for the emergent drought. Revenue Minister V Srinivas Prasad informed the House that drinking water was being supplied to 1,062 villages and a circular had been issued that reservoirs and tanks should be utilised only to meet basic human needs. The state had released Rs 250 crore and then an additional Rs 400 crore for drought-relief purposes.

However, not everyone is convinced by the government’s move, especially the farmers and groups representing them. “The government’s efforts are a total failure. They have no permanent solutions. They always come up with temporary measures,” says Kodihalli Chandrashekhar, leader of Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (the largest farmers’ union in the state).

Even after three years of consecutive droughts, Karnataka does not have a well-defined drought policy. The revenue minister heads drought-relief operations and the state’s chief secretary coordinates it. Drought management is equated with reliance on large-scale resource transfer to drought-affected regions.

“Since the state is seeing repeated drought, the government should have looked for permanent solutions. Otherwise, there will be an increase in the number of farmer suicides,” says Chandrashekhar. Karnataka is among the states with the highest number of farmer suicides. Last year, 1,403 farmers committed suicide in the state.

While the state government has asked the banks to defer the collection of loan dues from the farmers, the latter are demanding the government to waive off loans considering the four years of drought. They argue it was a practice followed by the erstwhile Nizam of Hyderabad. But the state is unlikely to take this step.

The article was first published in Tehelka magazine: http://www.tehelka.com/karnataka-drought-another-summer-of-discontent/