Deputy Chief Minister and Revenue Minister G. Parameshwara on Wednesday inspected drought-hit areas in Nanjangud taluk and interacted with farmers whose crops had withered due to deficit rainfall.

On the second day of his visit to Mysuru district to assess the drought situation, Mr. Parameshwara visited the fields of farmers Shivabasappa and Mahadevappa at Gattawadi village, where maize and sunflower had been cultivated.

The farmers told the Deputy Chief Minister that they had borrowed money to raise the crops and were now facing severe financial difficulties following the crop loss. They appealed to the government for immediate assistance.

Mr. Parameshwara sought details from officials at the spot about the drought situation in the taluk. Officials said horse gram was normally cultivated on around 4,500 hectares, black gram on 4,200 hectares, green gram on 3,500 hectares, maize on 3,400 hectares and cotton on 8,000 hectares annually.

However, owing to the shortage of rainfall this year, sowing had been undertaken on only around 3,500 hectares in the taluk. The crops that were sown had also been severely affected by the drought, officials informed the Deputy Chief Minister.

After taking stock of the situation from farmers and officials, Mr. Parameshwara assured the affected farmers that steps would be taken to provide relief at the earliest.

Nanjangud MLA Darshan Dhruvanarayan, Deputy Commissioner G. Lakshmikant Reddy, Zilla Panchayat CEO Yukesh Kumar, Nanjangud Tahsildar and agriculture officials were present.

Later, Mr Parameshwara visited Srikanteshwara Temple at Nanjangud town, which is known as the Dakshina Kashi, and offered a puja. He was accompanied by the MLA, Deputy Commissioner and other officials.