Dharwad SOS to govt for funds

dharwad: * fourteen farmers committed suicide in dharwad district in the last seven months unable to repay loan. the farmers suffered the twin blows of monsoon failure and crash in prices of agricultural produce. recently, 24-year-old bharamappa kotrappa ended his life by consuming pesticide in halligeri of navalgund taluk. * large-scale migration of labour to urban areas in search of jobs every day.most of them, including women, come to hubli-dharwad and get employed in construction work. some have already left their villages to the neighbouring state of goa. * shortage of drinking water and fodder has forced the farmers to sell their cattle to slaughterhouses at throwaway prices. a healthy cow, which would have fetched not less than rs 4,000, was being sold for rs 600 at the apmc cattle fair on saturday in amargol of hubli. these grim facts demonstrate how severe the drought is in the district. but the government has released only rs 2.48 crore towards drought relief works though the district administration had sought rs 11 crore. fearing the worst situation in the coming days, if rabi also fails, the district administration has sent a contingency plan to the government. the advance action plan with revised proposals would focus on providing drinking water during october and november. amid criticism that the relief measures are not reaching the affected areas, deputy commissioner kapil mohan asserted that works were being taken up on a ``war footing''. he said, ``of the five taluks of the district, the worst hit are kundgol and navalgund. we have found good response to the food-for-work scheme in these taluks compared with other regions. each labourer is paid a daily wage of rs 46.'' mohan said food grains worth rs 1.3 crore had been released for this project. ``in yereboodhihal village alone, 800 persons are provided employment every day.'' however, opposition parties as also farmers allege that the scheme is there only on paper. mohan countered: ``the work starts early in the morning and ends around noon. those who visit the workspot for inspection should come in the morning to known the truth.'' according to him, fodder and drinking water shortage will be severely felt if the rain further fails. mohan opines that not only the rural areas, but also hubli-dharwad would be facing a serious situation. hdmc officials confirm that with the existing water at neersagar and malaprabha, the drinking water supply to the twin cities can be maintained only for a month. denying the allegation that distress sale of cattle was going unchecked, mohan said there was not even 2 per cent increase in the sale of cattle meat from slaughterhouses in hubli. perhaps, cattle are better off in this district. farmers' suicide cases seem to have no impact on the government. when the first two cases of suicide were reported from navalur and gamanagatti villages, the state government compensated the bereaved families with rs 1 lakh. after that, the government took a stand that compensation will be provided only after a magisterial enquiry.