Karnataka government has added Alnavar, Kalaghatagi and Annigeri taluks of Dharwad district to the list of Drought-hit taluks for the year 2023-24 and declared them as Severely drought hit taluks.
The government had already declared 5 other taluks of Dharwad district i.e Dharwad, Hubballi, Kundgol, Navalgund and Hubballi city as Drought-hit taluks a month back.
Now, after declaring Alnavar, Kalaghatagi and Annigeri taluks as Drought-hit taluks, the entire Dharwad district has been declared as Drought-hit district.
District Disaster Management Authority Chairman Gurudatt Hegde said “Drought management programs will be carried out as per SDRF and NDRF rules and guidelines issued by the state government from time to time”.
Monsoon entered Karnataka state on the 8th of June 2023, a week later than the usual schedule. Karnataka experienced 56% deficit rain during June 2023.
However, the monsoon picked up in July month as the state witnessed 29% excess rainfall in the month. But the majority of the rain in the month was recorded in a week.
August month has been the worst hit, as the state experienced 73% deficit rain compared to the usual. The deficit in August 2023 is the lowest in the last 125 years.
According to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Management Committee’s (KSNDMC) report, the state experienced a 23% deficit rain in between the 1st of June and till 19th of August 2023.
As many as 165 taluks in Karnataka have been declared as Severely drought-hit, while 34 other taluks in Karnataka have been declared as Moderately drought-hit.