Bengaluru: Chief minister D K Shivakumar has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the Centre to immediately depute a team to assess Karnataka’s worsening monsoon situation. He said timely intervention by the Centre would strengthen the state’s efforts to mitigate the impact of the emerging drought. He also said a prolonged rainfall deficit could severely affect agriculture, drinking water availability, irrigation and hydropower generation.In his letter on Tuesday, Shivakumar said Karnataka has received only 203 mm of rainfall against the normal 292 mm as of July 11, recording a 30% deficit. He noted that 18 of the state’s 31 districts and 141 of its 240 taluks have reported deficit to large-deficit rainfall.
