A four-member central drought assessment team visited farms in Mandya district’s Saligrama taluk on Sunday and gathered information from farmers who reported losing ragi and tobacco crops because canal water was unavailable and borewells had run dry.
The team visited agricultural land near Bೇರ್ಯ in the Mirle hobli area, including farms in Valagerahalli and Arakere villages. At Arakere, the officials inspected a dried-up ragi crop on one acre belonging to farmer Swamy. In Valagerahalli, they examined a failed tobacco crop on 33 guntas of land belonging to farmer Krishna.
According to the report by Prajavani, farmers told the visiting officials that they had lost their crops because water was not released into the canals and there was no water available in their borewells. Other farmers in the area also informed the team that they had suffered crop losses.
The visit placed the immediate effects of water scarcity before both central and local officials. Farmers shared details of the losses directly with the team, while local authorities separately provided information about the situation in the area. The inspection therefore combined field-level crop assessment with administrative inputs from officials responsible for revenue, agriculture and local government functions.
The central team members were identified as Sudhambeg, Ashiyapandi, Pradeep Kumar and Karan Chaudhary, all based in Delhi. The team told farmers that their problems would be submitted to the Union government. The report did not announce any compensation, relief amount or additional water-release decision following the inspection.
The inspection also brought together senior district and sub-divisional officials. Those present included Additional Deputy Commissioner Aishwarya, Agriculture Department Joint Director Ravi, Zilla Panchayat Deputy Secretary Bhimappa, Hunsur Sub-Divisional Officer Manjunath, executive officer Ravi, Saligrama Tahsildar Rukiyabegum, Mirle Deputy Tahsildar R.A. Mahesh and K.R. Nagar Tahsildar Surendramurthy.
The field visit highlights how drought assessment depends on information moving between affected farms and multiple levels of government. Farmers described the condition of specific crops and water sources, while local officials supplied the visiting delegation with administrative information. The central team’s stated next step is to place the farmers’ concerns before the Union government.