Karnataka to have three-day special session to discuss drought, Kasturirangan report

G. Parameshwara | Photo Credit: File Photo A three-day special session has been convened from September 21 to 23 to discuss the drought situation in the State and the Kasturirangan Committee report. Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar had earlier announced the special session to discuss the Kasturirangan report after a draft published by the Centre notified 1,439 villages in Karnataka as ecologically sensitive areas.May be the worstBriefing presspersons, Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara said the State was reeling under severe drought and that there was a need to discuss it. “If the State does not receive good rainfall by the second week of September, Karnataka will be staring at one of the worst droughts in recent years. Europe and South America are already bearing the brunt,” he said.Meanwhile, the State is expected to declare the second round of drought-affected taluks in about a week’s time. “It is likely that about 50 to 60 taluks could be added to the list of drought-hit taluks after the second round. Another list will come later. The State government has to follow the Centre’s Drought Manual 2020, under which 101 taluks have already been declared as drought-hit. By the end of September, the State government will have an estimate of the loss, after which compensation will be sought from the Centre,” The Deputy Chief Minister said.Dr. Parameshwara said that though ₹1,229 crore has been approved under the State Disaster Relief Fund, it is yet to be released. However, the State has already spent ₹187 crore on drought relief, and about ₹329 crore is with Deputy Commissioners to undertake relief work, he added.Referring to the government’s decision to convene a special session, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R. Ashok demanded that the session be held for at least a week to allow for discussion of other issues, such as the Bidadi township project and the alleged irregularities in the NICE road project.Other Cabinet decisions include the approval of a ₹249 crore development plan for the University of Visvesvaraya College of Engineering in Bengaluru on the IIT model that would be funded by Visvesvaraya Technological University, and the approval of ₹46 crore for trauma centres, which includes the purchase of 100 basic life support ambulances, three CT scan machines, and 13 portable handheld non-invasive brain injury diagnosis devices.Invest Karnataka datesThe Cabinet has also cleared the organisation of ‘Invest Karnataka 2027’, scheduled to take place from April 20 in Bengaluru.Sites for farmers who lost land to NICEFollowing a nudge from the Supreme Court, the State Cabinet on Thursday approved the allotment of sites to 1,453 farmers who lost land to the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor project. Dr. Parameshwara said that farmers who lost less than one acre would be compensated with a 1,200 sq. ft plot, and those who lost more than an acre would be provided with a 2,400 sq. ft plot.“Though this is not part of the Framework Agreement signed, the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise has agreed to compensate. It has already developed 574 plots, and the rest need to be approved. Four places have been identified for the same. The plots will be given in two months,” he said.4,500 electric buses for BengaluruThe Cabinet cleared the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation’s proposal to add 4,500 electric buses over the next couple of years, a significant expansion of bus services in Bengaluru.The Union government-funded purchase is at a cost of ₹1.2 crore to ₹1.5 crore for each bus. The city already has the largest city bus fleet in the country, with around 7,000 buses. Published - September 03, 2026 09:31 pm IST