Karnataka to Seek Drought Relief as State Faces Rs 62000 Crore Loss

Karnataka government to convene all-party meet to seek drought relief for Rs 62,000 crore losses. Meanwhile, CM DK Shivakumar pushes for pending environmental and infrastructure clearances, including the Mekedatu project, in Delhi.

Karnataka Government Prepares to Seek Drought Relief

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara on Thursday said the state government would convene an all-party meeting and take a delegation to Delhi to seek drought relief from the Centre, stressing that the state had suffered an estimated loss of Rs 62,000 crore "... Now we are looking to go with a drought delegation. We will call an all-party meeting here. Now Dasara is over. Next, administrative decisions have to be taken. We will call them, inform them. From the state's point of view, we who are administering, we have to go. We have to ask them to give us relief. Now, a loss of about Rs 62,000 crore has happened. They are calculating how much to ask for. There are their guidelines, NDRF. We cannot ask for the entire Rs 62,000 crore loss. They have made guidelines. Based on NDRF, we will calculate and go and ask them, " he told reporters

Chief Minister Discusses Key Projects in Delhi

Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday met Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav in the national capital to discuss several environmental, forest, and wildlife clearances concerning key state projects, including the Mekedatu project and recommendations of the Kasturirangan report.

Push for Infrastructure and Policy Clearances

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Shivakumar described the discussion as constructive, noting that the Union Minister had agreed to initiate formal inter-ministerial deliberations to help expedite pending approvals. "I visited Delhi and have just met Bhupender Yadav. I have discussed this Kasturirangan report and a lot of projects and forest and wildlife clearances connected to the Mekedatu issue and the environmental impact issues connected to the coast; we wanted to come out with a new policy," Shivakumar said.

"He has agreed positively on the coastal, the storage, and the Mekedatu issue; there has to be some clearance, and he also has agreed that the forest minister and the water resources minister will jointly have a meeting on this," he added. (ANI)

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