Mysuru faces 55% rainfall deficit, drought crop loss estimated at ₹122 crore

Deputy Chief Minister and Revenue Minister G. Parameshwara on Tuesday (September 1) expressed concern over the severe rainfall deficit, decline in employment generation and poor crop insurance enrolment in Mysuru district, and directed officials to step up relief measures.

Presiding over a drought review meeting at the zilla panchayat here after touring affected areas in Hunsur and K.R. Nagar taluks, Dr. Parameshwara said Mysuru district should have received 310 mm of normal rainfall between June and the end of August, but had received only 140 mm, resulting in a 55% rainfall deficit. The deficit stood at 56% in June, 61% in July and 45% in August.

Eight taluks — H.D. Kote, Hunsur, K.R. Nagar, Mysuru, Nanjangud, Saligrama, Saragur and T. Narasipura — have been declared severely drought-affected, he said.

Expressing concern over the decline in employment generation, Dr. Parameshwara said only 1.91 lakh person-days of employment had been generated in Mysuru since July 2026, a 55% decline compared with last year. “If 4.33 lakh person-days of employment were generated during the same period last year with good rainfall, why has the figure fallen so sharply this year? Are people not demanding work? What are the zilla panchayat CEO and the officials under him doing?” he asked.

He also pulled up the Agriculture and Horticulture departments over the poor enrolment of farmers under crop insurance. While crop insurance has been taken for 49.64 lakh farmer applications covering 33,17,167 hectares across the State, only 20,836 farmers in Mysuru, covering 8,046 hectares, have enrolled.

“Why are officials showing such negligence? Why have they not encouraged farmers to enrol? Irresponsibility will not be tolerated,” he warned.

On fodder availability, Dr. Parameshwara said Mysuru district had 7,04,890 tonnes of fodder, sufficient for about 33 weeks. However, availability was lower in Mysuru and Hunsur taluks at 25 weeks each and Periyapatna at 26 weeks. “Farmers who have borewells should be given fodder seeds and encouraged to cultivate fodder,” he said.

The government has already released ₹25 crore to the Animal Husbandry Department for distribution of fodder kits, he added.

Drinking water problems have been reported in 14 gram panchayats across six taluks. Six villages are being supplied water through six tankers, while nine villages are receiving water through 10 hired private borewells. In urban areas, 14 tankers are supplying water to 13 wards across three Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).

He said drought review meetings for the Belagavi and Kalaburagi Revenue divisions had been completed and that he had personally reviewed the situation and conducted field inspections in Belagavi, Chitradurga, Tumakuru, Chickballapur and Kolar districts.

The estimated crop loss due to drought in Mysuru district is around ₹122 crore.

Joint Director of Agriculture K.H. Ravi told the meeting that 2,12,751 hectares, or around 56% of the cultivable area, had been sown this year. Of this, nearly 50% of the sown area had been affected and crops destroyed due to deficient rainfall.

Last year, sowing had been taken up on 3,76,609 hectares, accounting for around 76% of the cultivable area. The district experienced deficient rainfall during both the pre-monsoon and monsoon periods this year.

Mysuru district in-charge Minister Yathindra Siddaramaiah, MLAs, MLCs and senior officials attended the meeting.