It will be a while before Karnataka can expect any grant from the Centre for drought relief.

The Central drought assessment team headed by Parvesh Sharma on Wednesday directed the State government to furnish detailed statistics within a week’s time. The officials, at a meeting presided over by Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, expressed dissatisfaction over the information provided by the Gowda-led all-party delegation in its memorandum.

The Union government has released a sum of Rs 868 crore to take up minor irrigation projects in the drought-affected taluks of the State.

The State government had submitted a proposal to take up about 493 different minor irrigation projects in 81 drought-affected taluks at a cost of Rs 685 crore. Of these, the Centre approved 404 projects to be taken up in five phases, Secretary to Minor Irrigation Department P N Srinivasachary said.

The facility will develop and test new hybrid seed varieties, says MD

Monsanto India’s Managing Director Amitabh Jaipuria at the launch of breeding centre in Chikkaballapur on Monday. With a tinge of frustration and anger, Monsanto India’s Managing Director Amitabh Jaipuria clarified that the breeding station inaugurated in Chikkaballapur on Monday will not violate the Bio Diversity Act and will be a non-biotech centre.

Karnataka has sought Rs 2,605.99 cr

Citing that the drought situation in the State is indeed of a serious nature, the Central team which visited the State to assess the drought situation in December has opined that there is no exaggeration in Karnataka’s claims.

Commercial use of groundwater, especially in Bangalore Urban, Bangalore Rural, Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts, will soon become a costly affair.
The state government is contemplating imposing a flat rate of Rs 30 to 40 a kilo litre of ground water extracted for commercial purposes by metering the extraction. In the draft rules framed to implement the Karnataka Ground Water (Regulation and Control of Development and Management) Act, 2011, the Mines and Geology department has proposed the government to introduce the tariff only in the over-exploited areas of the State.

Govt proposes fixing meters to pumps to check over extraction
Commercial use of groundwater, especially in Bangalore Urban, Bangalore Rural, Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts, will soon become a costly affair.

Is diverting Yettinahole stream to bring water to dry districts the answer? At last, the State Government seems to be waking up to the hardship faced by the people of Chikkaballapur and Tumkur districts due to non-availability of drinking water.

Ryots face multiple problems, scoff at the agricultural budget as

The problem of lake encroachment is not restricted to Bangalore alone, but also extends to the neighbouring Chikkaballapur district, Minor Irrigation Minister Govind Karjol said here on Monday.

In reply to a query raised by JD(S) legislator K P Bache Gowda at the Assembly, Karjol said of the 35 lakes in Chikkaballapur Assembly constituency, 30 have been encroached upon.

Long list

The mini

Workers in the construction industry are in a state of unemployment as a result of the ban on sand transport in the district.

Deadlock: The Ambedkar Bhavan in Chikkaballapur is still far from complete.