Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said the state government will decide on declaring taluks beset by deficit rainfall as drought-affected areas on September 4.He said 113 taluks have already been identified as hit by drought, and 73 more may get added to the list where a joint survey will be carried out.

“There has been deficit rainfall this year. In June, there was about 56 per cent shortage in rainfall. Then in July, there was near normal rainfall, but again there was shortage in rainfall in August,” Siddaramaiah said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said there is a cabinet sub-committee under the leadership of the state Revenue Minister to review the drought situation, which has already held three meetings, and they are once again meeting on September 4.”As many as 113 taluks have been identified for drought and joint surveys are being done. On September 4, a decision will be arrived at on declaring them as drought-hit as per norms. Another 73 taluks too are facing drought as per reports, so a joint survey has been ordered there too. Once the survey report comes, it will be decided on declaring them also as drought-hit,” he added.

Further stating that after the declaration of drought, a memorandum will be submitted to the central government for assistance to the drought-affected taluks, the Chief Minister said the Centre will send a committee to conduct the survey following the submission, and once they submit the report, funds will be released as per National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) guidelines.”The state government will carry out relief works with this grant. Apart from that, the state government will also allocate money for relief works,” he said.

Noting that there has been no revision in NDRF norms since 2020, Siddaramaiah said a letter has been written to the central government to revise the NDRF guidelines and give more compensation to the states.