Karnataka draught

Parched fields, dry rivers, empty pitchers, thirsty people. The grim scene is driving farmers to sell their cattle and migrate in search of jobs. The situation has prodded the government to take some immediate measures No food, no fodder in Gulbarga district

Mouneshwar Sonnad | TNN 

Gulbarga: Bheemappa Avarad, a farmer, is getting ready to sell his cattle (a pair of bull) at the weekly fair in Gulbarga. He is planning to sell them to the merchants from the neighboring states of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Though Bheemappa owns five acres of land, forget about foodgrains, he couldn’t even get sufficient fodder for his cattle. “I tried my best, but it’s not possible to maintain them. I will sell them in the fair,’’ he said. 
    Gulbarga is one of the most drought-hit districts in the state, with all seven taluks in the district declared as drought-hit. Drinking water and fodder are the major problems here coupled with scorching summer. 
    Sample this. Kamalapur, 20km away from the district headquarters, has a population of around 18,000. Most of the 15 handpumps are under repair and hence people are forced to tread 4-5 km to fetch water from borewells in the farms. Suraj Patil, a farmer who grows red-banana in Kamalapur, feels the situation will worsen if the government doesn’t act immediately and provide water and fodder. 
    Though the district administration has released Rs 3 crore for water supply in the villages, it is far from sufficient. Gulbarga deputy commissioner R Vishal told TOI that he had released Rs 3 crore for 293 water supply works. “We have requested the government to release another Rs 2 crore,’’ he added.

LOOKING FOR WATER