Congress government has left Karnataka to the mercy of rain gods
A day after the newly-appointed head of the Karnataka unit of the BJP, BS Yeddyurappa, announced his plans to visit the drought-hit regions of the state, chief minister Siddaramaiah hurriedly inspected some of the affected areas. He declared that the situation was not alarming even as thousands of farmers and agricultural labourers are migrating to Goa and Bangalore in search of livelihood.
Senior Congress leader and minister for rural development and panchayat raj HK Patil too refused to regard it as a drought. Instead, he declared, after visiting a few districts, that it was the result of an "intense summer".
While the entire state is reeling under drought and acute water shortage, the Congress government does not seem to think so. The government and its leaders are still under the impression that the water crisis affecting people in towns and cities and agriculture is a manifestation of the extreme summer.
Apart from a handful ministers, the remaining ones seem oblivious to the problems faced by people in the rural areas. Though the CM is hopping across important districts where drought is reigning supreme, his cabinet colleagues do not seem to be following suit.
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| Congress government is lacking a structured approach in tackling drought. |
In many towns in the Malenadu region (Western Ghats where rainfall is the highest in the state), water supply from rivers has stopped. Colleges have instructed students to vacate the hostel and return to hometowns because of water shortage. The perennially water-fed coastal city of Mangalore is unable to supply water to the residents. In some villages of Thirthahalli, people are guarding the wells fearing that water might get stolen.
In north Karnataka, the worst-hit region, the big rivers Krishna and Bhima are dry along several vast stretches. The Alamatti Dam, one of the biggest water reservoirs in Karnataka, is near dead storage capacity. It has become a common sight to see people collecting dirty water from ponds near villages and standing in long queues for a bucket of water in front of local tankers.
In the face of these facts, Siddaramaiah declared that the state was in a position to supply water to every village and did not require the intervention of the Centre.
If that was the case, well-known Kannada actor and youth icon Yash need not have taken up the responsibility of supplying water to more than 50 drought-hit villages at his personal cost in the north Karnataka region.
It is evident that the Congress government is lacking a structured approach in tackling drought. It is relying merely on the information provided by local district administration officials, who usually tend to misguide decision makers to cover up their lapses.
While the media continues to portray the grim reality of drought, when the CM visits the particular region, the officials give an impression that everything is under control.
If Siddaramaiah's drought inspection turns out to remain the same in the coming days, people have no option other than waiting for the monsoon.
The Congress government has literally left the people of the state in the mercy of the rain gods. People are watching every blunder being committed by the government time and again. This could be a great opportunity for Siddaramaiah to turn things in his favour.
(Courtesy of Mail Today.)