Karnataka - Hassan   

Arsikere included in list of drought hit taluks: Shivaram

By Our Staff Correspondent

HASSAN, JAN. 6. The Government has included Arsikere in the list of drought hit taluks in the State and sanctioned Rs. 1.47 crore for removing the silt accumulated in several tanks under the food-for-work scheme, the Minister for Information, B. Shivaram, has said.

Mr. Shivaram participated in various programmes in Arsikere taluk on Tuesday and reviewed the progress of works in the Department of Agriculture, an official release from the Department of Information said.

He also distributed free uniforms and books to the children in Gandsi Residential School.

Funds released

Addressing a programme organised by the Department of Agriculture, he said that the Government had released Rs. 25 lakhs to the department under various heads and it was the responsibility of the authorities concerned to utilize the same for the welfare of the farmers.

As it was technically not possible to lift water from the Hemavathi, the farmers in the taluk should exploit the potentials of watershed programmes to irrigate their lands.

Workshop

He also promised to organise a workshop on the importance of the watershed development to create awareness among the farming community about the importance of rejuvenating and conserving groundwater.

Mr. Shivaram said that General Insurance Company (GIC) had released Rs. 1.37 crore towards settling the crop insurance claims of farmers in the taluk.

He directed the taluk level officers to take up the relief works under food-for-work scheme and address the problem of drinking water on priority. He also urged them to be more receptive and responsive to the problems of farmers in rural areas.

Mr. Shivaram said that the responsibility of identifying beneficiaries to issue yellow cards under public distribution scheme had been entrusted to the gram sabhas.

Presiding over the function, the Arsikere MLA, A.S. Basavaraj, said that the taluk was facing drinking water crisis.

Though the Government had handed over the responsibility of repairing the bore wells to gram panchayats, the latter were not able to do so owing to funds crunch, he added.

Mr. Shivaram also visited Doddenahalli in the taluk, where a few houses and banana plantations were damaged by the whirlwind on Monday.

He directed the tahsildar to prepare an estimate after assessing the damage.

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Arsikere included in list of drought hit taluks: Shivaram

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