This Article is From Apr 09, 2012

Senior Ministers to visit drought-hit areas: Sadananda Gowda

Bangalore: Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda said three Ministerial teams would tour drought affected areas, as he affirmed government's top priority to tackle the scarcity situation in parts of the State.

Mr Gowda held a lengthy interaction with top officials of drought-hit districts, particularly Deputy Commissioners (DC) and CEOs of Zilla Panchayats, via video conferencing to assess the situation on the ground.

Later, he announced the constitution of three Ministerial teams headed by Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Jagadish Shettar, Urban Development Minister S Suresh Kumar and Water Resouces Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

They would separately tour districts in the next ten days, hold discussions with officials, "think of solutions and what needs to be done", Mr Gowda said.

Government had already declared 123 taluks as drought-hit. He warned DCs that they would be personally held responsible for any lapse in taking up drought-relief works.

"Under any circumstances, there are no dearth of funds (for drought-relief)", Mr Gowda said, as he exhorted officials to take up relief measures on a war-footing.

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