Coalition govt.
Yeddyurappa has said that the party leaders would visit the drought-affected areas in the State to get first-hand knowledge of the condition of farmers and also about crop loss.
The issue would also be raised in the State Legislature.
The State government has not taken any steps to alleviate the problems of farmers in the drought-affected areas and instead, the Congress and the Janata Dal(S) leaders are busy in looting public money in the name of development, he said.
“When asked about drought relief works, the State government points its fingers towards the Union government and blames Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Commenting on the loan waiver announced by the State government, Mr. Yeddyurappa said that the State government has not given any clear information to farmers and it is wasting time by misguiding them.
Bharat Ratna Answering to a question, Mr. Yeddyurappa said that he would make sincere efforts to convince the Union government of the need to honour the Tumakuru Siddaganga Mutt seer, Sri Shivakumara Swamiji, who passed away recently, with Bharat Ratna for his service in the field of education.
MLAs G.H.
Thippareddy, M. Chandrappa, Poornima Srinivas, Davangere MP G.M.
Siddeshwar and district-level officers were present.

Through initiatives such as the Jalyukt Shivar water conservation scheme, the BJP-led Maharashtra government has made 16,000 villages free of water scarcity, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said Wednesday.
He was speaking at an international conference on micro-irrigation here.
"Water is very precious and we still have not realised it….we don’t get regular rainfall and micro-irrigation is the only solution.
Earlier, two countries would fight over water.
Now such crises erupt between districts and even tehsils," said Fadnavis.
"The government is working hard on the Jalyukt Shivar initiative and has made 16,000 villages water-neutral (free of water scarcity).
Thirty-four lakh hectares of land is (has been brought) under irrigation.
Micro-irrigation facilities have increased three times," the chief minister claimed.
While the BJP-led state government has put a lot of stress on village-level water conservation projects, the state faced a poor monsoon in 2018, forcing it to declare drought in 151 tehsils in 26 out of the total 36 districts.
(With inputs from agencies.)

Aurangabad: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday hit out at Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan for allegedly politicising the issue of water-scarcity in the state.
“The ‘Jan Sangharsh Yatra’ (public campaign) being launched by the Congress is not supported by commoners.
The campaign has failed miserably,” he said.
Speaking with the reporters on the sideline of his official visit tour in Jalna, Fadnavis said the state government would leave no stone unturned to tackle the water crisis situation.
The chief minister also took stock of the water-scarcity situation as a part of the series of official meetings being held by him in worst-affected districts across the state.
Being asked whether the BJP-led state government is protecting culprits behind the multi-crore irrigation scam, Fadnavis refuted charges of shielding anybody.
“The SIT is probing the scam under the supervision of the court.
The chargesheet has been also filed in the matter,” he said.
Earlier, a few NCP workers faced the wrath of the police for trying to breach the security protocol in an attempt to meet the chief minister for handing over a memorandum of their demands.
Police had to resort to lathi charge when the workers forcefully tried to enter the venue where Fadnavis was scheduled to hold a meeting.

Mumbai: Finally, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has admitted that parts of the state are in the grip of a drought and assured farmers they will soon get relief.
Fadnavis said on Monday the state government would soon issue a notification to officially declare a drought-like situation in 179 talukas across the state.
Fadnavis was in Nashik district with President Ram Nath Kovind to attend a function at ‘Mangi-Tungi’, a place of religious importance for the Jain community.
Addressing a public rally, Fadnavis said, the initial procedure to announce drought has almost been completed.
Once, the drought-like situation is announced, the villagers can get relief from paying instalments on crop loans, to district co-operative banks and from the nationalised banks.
Farmers will also get relief from paying electricity bills for agriculture pump and they are exempt from various taxes, including agriculture tax and housing tax.
Children of farmers from drought-prone areas also get exemption from paying educational fees.
The district administration approves water tankers to provide drinking water to these drought-affected villages.
Ram Shinde, the minister for water conservation, said, the Jal Yukta Shivar scheme has succeeded in increasing ground water levels by four metres in Marathwada region.
“Due to the Jal Yukta Shivar, water percolated into the ponds created and the farmers have successfully managed to save crops even though there has been below-average rainfall in the region,” said Shinde.

Mumbai: Around 200 talukas in Maharashtra are facing "scarcity-like" conditions and two senior ministers have been asked to submit a report on this issue, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday.
He added that a decision to declare these talukas as scarcity-hit would be taken by October 31.
Talking to reporters after a ministerial meeting, Mr Fadnavis said that state Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil and Transport Minister Diwakar Raote have been entrusted with the task of reviewing the scarcity situation in these talukas and submitting a report to him.
"A decision of declaring the talukas as scarcity-hit will be taken by October 31.
Later, a Central team will visit to review the situation and then a decision of declaring drought will be taken, since it (declaring drought) is in the Centre’s domain," Mr Fadnavis said.
He informed that inputs about the prevailing scarcity situation is being compiled for submission to the Union government.
The Maharashtra CM said that ministers have been asked to take stock of water storage in the state’s dams and reservoirs and prepare a report.
NDTV Beeps – your daily newsletter

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani Friday said that drought relief works would begin from October 1 in 14 talukas of Kutch, Patan, and Banaskantha districts.
These talukas have been declared "scarcity hit" after getting deficient rain, less than 125 mm, during the current monsoon.
"In these talukas, drinking water will be provided through tankers while subsidized cattle fodder will be made available to farmers and cattle breeders," Rupani said.
He was talking to reporters on the sidelines of the inauguration of a multilayer packaging board plant in Bharuch, about 110 kilometers from here.
Gujarat is staring at water scarcity as it has received just 73.87 percent of rainfall this monsoon, a Gujarat government release had stated Thursday It had informed that Kutch had received just 26.51 percent of average rainfall so far, while north Gujarat got 42.93 percent, central Gujarat 66.83 percent, Saurashtra 72.20 percent and south Gujarat got the highest of 94.79 percent.

Special Correspondent, Guardian Minister blasts NMC, OCW for shoddy handling of water distribution Citizens must use water judiciously or face upto 50% cut during summer Need to bring down leakages to 15% Depleting storage at Totladoh, a matter of worry for district What ails our water distribution system Targeted leakage 15% Actual leakage 50% Zone-wise leakage Ashi Nagar 65% Gandhibag 70% Satranjipura 70% Mangalwari 50% Dhantoli 50% Dharampeth 35% Nehru Nagar 30% Laxmi Nagar 25% Hanuman Nagar 25% Due to insufficient rains in catchment area of Pench Dam this year, Nagpur city may face unprecedented water scarcity in next summer due to 50 percent cut proposed in raw water supply by the State Government.
Meanwhile, State Government has decided to release 100 MLD water for the farmers for their Kharip crop immediately.
Traditionally, Water Resources Department (WRD) is releasing water for Kharip crops in October but in view of farmers’ demands, government has taken a historic decision to release water to Nagpur and Bhandara district in this month.
This has adversely affected water storage in Pench dam.
The total capacity of Pench dam is 1092 MM3 but presently, only 352 MM3 or around 21 per cent water is available in the reservoir.
However, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, WRD Minister Girish Mahajan has taken a decision on my (Bawankule’s) request, Guardian Minister added and said, WRD may not release water for Kharip crops in the month of October due to less stock.
NMC should explore other sources for water supply during scarcity days as cut may be increased upto 50 per cent.
Guardian Minister blasted NMC for 60 per cent losses in four zones of the city.
He said, NMC has assured to reduce losses upto 25 per cent within two years but it seems that NMC and Orange City Water (OCW) are not serious to plug the leakages.
He has directed corporators and officers to create awareness among masses to use the water with extra caution.

The apex court also summoned the Chief Minister of Punjab Shehbaz Sharif to inquire about the quality of the water supply situation and the actions taken to tackle water pollution (quality degradation).
The Punjab CM submitted before the court that the provincial government will soon be able to come up with a comprehensive plan for water treatment to provide safe drinking water to the people.
However, provision of, and access to, safe drinking water is one of the provincial governments’ prime responsibilities.
Industries are a major source of pollution when it comes to both surface and groundwater in Pakistan.
The run off from agriculture has nitrogen and phosphorus-based fertilisers and varying pesticides.
Excessive use of agricultural fertilisers increases the productivity of the soil which it does, but on the contrary impairs the quality of water which was earlier drinkable.
Over 50 to 60 million people might be at risk as they are the ones who use groundwater for human consumption.
The provinces of Punjab, KP and Sindh re-established PHEDs in 2003, 2009 and 2010, respectively.
These developments created further confusion on responsibility and jurisdiction (pertaining to water and sanitation services delivery) whereas PHEDs are operating in rural areas and TMAs in urban areas.
After the promulgation of the Local Government Act of 2012 provinces replaced urban TMAs with town municipal corporations and rural TMAs by district councils.

Share Patna, Jul 22 (UNI) Apprehending drought in Bihar in this monsoon season as the state received only 48 per cent of normal rainfall so far, a number of decisions have been taken in a high level review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to provide relief to farmers.
During the meeting he directed officials concerned to give top prioritise relief to farmers who were facing lot of difficulties due to scanty rainfall in the state.
A number of decisions to insulate farmers from the shock of droughts had also been taken in the meeting which would go a long way in mitigating their sufferings.
Decisions taken in the meeting included revision of diesel subsidy and providing power for longer duration in rural areas for agrarian works.
State chief secretary Deepak Kumar and principal secretary of disaster management department Pratyay Amrit told media persons after the meeting that a number of preventive measures had been taken and guidelines were issued to officials to provide relief to farmers who could face difficulties in drought which appeared to be strong possibility following scanty rainfall in Bihar so far in this monsoon season.

TURA: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma announced the laying of new feeder main under Tura Phase I and II Water Supply Scheme in presence of PHE Minister Samlin Malgniang on Saturday evening at Circuit House Tura.
The project is estimated to cost Rs 35 crore and is being funded by North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS), Ministry of DoNER, Government of India.
The project was proposed by former Union Minister and South Tura MLA Agatha K. Sangma as Tura town had to face continuous water scarcity.
Expressing concern over a situation where young children were filling pots in public taps and from nearby streams, the Chief Minister said, “The picture of such situation has motivated us as a government to make a difference for the lives of our people.
When we took over the government, we decided that we will ensure and tackle the problem of water crisis.” Terming that government is committed to provide safe drinking water to its citizens, the Chief Minister said, “Due to paucity of funds, such projects cannot be taken up all at once for different parts of the State but in a phased manner, projects would be taken up in other parts of the State as well.” He also informed that under NESIDS, Government of India has sanctioned Rs.190 crore to Meghalaya, of which Rs.
He also informed that the government had been working on set goals with defined verticals viz., social, infrastructure and socio – economic development to ensure equitable development in the State.
Informing that Government of India is keen to ensure accelerated flow of funds for development of power, road and telecommunication, the Chief Minister said, “MDA Government was positively engaging with the centre for release of funds for infrastructure development sector.” Following the announcement of the project, the Chief Minister and PHE Minister held review meeting with officials of PHE department to discuss measures to improve water availability in Tura town including short term and long term agenda for ensuring better water supply.
In the meeting, the Chief Minister acknowledged the suggestions of the PHE department for laying of public utility ducts.
The Chief Minister has also asked different departments to come up with plans and proposals to address the challenge of jhum cultivation, which has posed a threat on the catchment areas, recharging of ground water and provision for rain water harvesting in colleges, schools and government institutions.
The PHE department also drew the attention of the Chief Minister and PHE Minister for procurement of Water Tanker in view of the A’chik Baptist Dalgipa Krima Convention, which will be hosted in Tura.