Why 2023 is turning out to be a drought year for Karnataka

For the past four years, Karnataka mostly dealt with floods during the rainy season. However, this year with the south-west monsoon playing truant, the state is staring at a grim drought that’s threatening to ruin the kharif crop. Since June, when sowing began, the scenario has gone from bad to worse—the rainfall deficit was 56 per cent in June, but it rose to 73 per cent in August. “The situation is dire,” says legislator Darshan Puttanaiah, whose assembly constituency of Melukote adjoins the Krishnaraja Sagara (KRS) reservoir, the lifeline of the Cauvery basin. “We are not even asking for water for irrigation but for drinking. With the current state of affairs, we will not be able to last for long,” he says, referring to the ongoing protests by farmers in the Cauvery basin over the release of water to neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

By the third week of August, the indications were that 62 talukas across Karnataka qualified for a severe drought—among the several parameters taken into account were a rain deficit greater than 60 per cent and arid conditions persisting for three consecutive weeks. Currently, various ministries in Karnataka are carrying out a joint survey in 134 talukas before making a formal declaration of the drought-hit talukas.

The dry spell during August has only made matters worse, according to farmers’ organisations. “About 50 to 75 per cent of the standing crop is gone,” says Badagalapura Nagendra, leader of farmers’ body Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha. Both ragi (finger millet), grown in the Old Mysuru region, and maize, grown across other parts of the state, have been badly hit, he says. “Some horticulture crops have survived only because the ground water level had improved in the last few years.”

Kurubur Shanthakumar, president of the Karnataka Sugarcane Growers Association, estimates that the sugarcane crop has seen a 50 per cent decline.

Karnataka has the highest proportion of drought-prone area among major states—about 79 per cent of the total arable land is drought-prone. In absolute terms, Karnataka has the second-largest area of dry land in the country, after Rajasthan. Over the last two decades, the state has seen 11 drought- and four flood-affected years, notes farmer leader Nagendra, adding that long-term solutions, with greater focus on minor irrigation, should be initiated. He points out that the government should immediately focus on providing fodder for the livestock and drinking water for the badly-hit areas.

Data from the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) shows that the state received 526 millimetres of rain between June 1 and September 4, as against the normal of 711 millimetres—a shortfall of 26 per cent overall. As many as 15 of the state’s 31 districts reported deficit rainfall during the period. These include the Malnad and coastal districts and parts of southern and central Karnataka.

While July was a normal month in terms of quantum of rainfall, officials point out that the skewed pattern, in which heavy showers came in quick succession towards the end of the month, impacted the standing crop. The situation took a turn for the worse in August when the rain deficit increased. “For August, the drought was severe and that had a terminal effect on crops,” says Karnataka revenue minister Krishna Byregowda. The weather forecast indicates that the monsoon will be active until September 11. While this would bring some relief and help recharge the groundwater levels, it won’t remedy the crop damage already suffered, he says.

Once the declaration of drought-affected talukas is made, the government will carry out an assessment of the damage to crops and submit a memorandum to the Centre for disaster relief allocations, explains Byregowda. “We will be making alternate arrangements for drinking water on a contingency basis in emergency and acute problematic areas. Also, we will make sure that fodder is available, going forward.” Besides, in the drought-affected talukas, agricultural labourers will be eligible for 150 work days under MGNREGA as against the norm of 100 days.

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