CH NEWS
BENGALURU
The Karnataka government on Thursday declared 23 more taluks drought-affected, taking the total number of notified drought-hit taluks to 124 for Kharif 2026.
The Revenue Department (Disaster Management) issued the order based on ground-truthing and a comprehensive assessment by the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC).
In the first phase, the government had declared 101 taluks drought-hit on August 27. Subsequently, the KSNDMC scientifically assessed the remaining 139 taluks following a continued dry spell in several parts of the State.
Ground-truthing was conducted through a mobile application in 214 villages across 24 taluks, following directions from the Cabinet sub-committee on natural disasters headed by Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara.
Of the 23 newly notified taluks, 21 have been classified as severely drought-affected and two as moderately drought-affected.
The severely affected taluks include Tiptur, Karatagi, Manvi, Sindhanur, Sirwar, Afzalpur, Aland, Chittapur, Kalaburagi, Yadrami, Shahabad, Bhalki, Basavana Bagewadi, Babaleshwar, Tikota, Rattihalli, Hubballi, Navalgund, Hubballi City, Annigeri and Kadur.
Ponnampet and Virajpet in Kodagu district have been classified as moderately drought-affected.
The declaration is effective immediately and will remain in force for six months. Deputy commissioners have been authorised to undertake relief and response measures under State Disaster Response Fund guidelines.
Agriculture and horticulture officials, along with deputy commissioners, have been directed to conduct crop-loss surveys and submit relief assessment reports.
