Bangalore: Copious rains bring relief to Yeddyurappa
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
BANGALORE, JUL 8: Two days after his happy remarks that his pilgrimage to temples to pray for rains had borne fruit and claiming that his ``prayers have reached God,’’ Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa on Wednesday said he was greatly relieved at the bountiful rains all over the state during the last few days.
The abrupt break for almost a month in the monsoon after a promising early start was a matter of grave concern for the government and all sections of people as the rapidly depleting water storage levels in all reservoirs and the inability to generate power or ensure water supply to irrigation pumpsets of farmers.
Addressing a function after inaugurating a two-day State level conference of presidents, vice-presidents and members of Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMC) in the city, he said: ``We can now heave a sigh of relief as almost all districts, especially the catchment areas of major reservoirs, have been getting heavy rains since the last 10 days. The grim situation that prevailed in the state and the bleak outlook on the power front is gradually easing.’’
``A fortnight ago, we were not at ease with the prevailing situation. But, the State has been receiving good rains during the last few days. Sowing operations had begun in 70 to 75% of agricultural land. The reservoirs are filling up,’’ he said pointing out that Linganamakki and even the Almatti dam was receiving heavy inflows.
While talking to reporters on Monday, the chief minister had referred to the opposition’s criticism for his pilgrimages to temples to pray for rains and said, ``Gods will answer sincere prayers of his devotees.’’
``When I went to temples, several people criticised me and wondered if it is possible to get rains by offering prayers. But I was confident. Now the dams are getting filled up,’’ he had said.
Pointing out that barely half the agricultural produce was brought to the APMC yards by the farmers for marketing, he urged government officials to examine why farmers were reluctant to sell their entire produce in APMCs.
`` We have to introspect why we have not been able to free the farmer from the clutches of the middlemen,’’ he said pointing out that over four crore people in the State were engaged in agriculture and the transactions at APMC yards crossed Rs 20 crore annually.
He called upon APMC representatives and other experts, participating in the two-day conference, to suggest ways and means to prevent exploitation of farmers. ``On my part, I will try to implement the recommendations made by you during the conference,’’ he promised.
There was a need to make agriculture a remunerative occupation so that rural youth stopped from migrating to urban areas in search of employment if the country was to progress and the lot of the rural masses improved. ``Otherwise, Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of ushering in Ram Rajya would remain just a dream,’’ he felt.
Earlier, medical education minister Ramachandra Gowda, inaugurated the website of APMC, http://krishimaratavahini.kar.nic.in, to provide information on various aspects of agricultural marketing.
``Market prices and arrival information of agricultural commodities were being provided online so far. Now, information pertaining to various schemes and activities of the Agriculture Department, names and addresses of traders, exporters, importers, market profiles and a whole lot of other aspects on various aspects of agricultural marketing will be available in the revised website,’’ he said.
Agricultural marketing minister Shivaraj Thangadagi and Agriculture minister S A Ravindranath also participated in the inaugural function.
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