Central teams to assess drought in 13 districts

A 10-member central team has arrived in Bengaluru to assess the drought situation in Karnataka. The team will visit the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre and attend a briefing on drought by agriculture minister N Chaluvarayaswamy. They will then visit drought-affected districts to assess damage to standing crops and interact with farmers. The state has declared 195 taluks as drought-hit and has requested Rs 6,000 crore in relief funds. Preliminary assessments indicate that standing crop on 40 lakh hectares has been damaged due to drought.