Just a few months after 160 of the 176 districts in Karnataka were declared drought hit, three farmers in Haveri, Hassana and Mandya districts have committed suicide.
In Belakeri village of Haveri district’s Byadagi talku, 40-year-old Eeranna Gowda committed suicide on Wednesday morning, Haveri police said.
Eeranna, who owns a six-acre plot had obtained a loan of Rs 20 lakh for growing maize and cotton. The failure of the monsoon led him to take the drastic step, police added.
A case of farmer suicide has been filed at the Byadagi Police Station.
In Hassan district’s Beluru taluk, Rudra Gowda, a 58-year-old farmer, consumed poison on Tuesday night.
“Rudra Gowda and his family live in Sankenahalli. He had obtained loans worth Rs 7 lakh both from the bank and private money lenders. He was unable to repay the loan as his paddy crop failed due to water shortage and he committed suicide,” the Beluru Inspector said.
Madhu Kumar was just 23 years old. He owned a 1.5-acre plot in Mandya’s district’s Kabbare village, where he cultivated paddy.
According to the Mandya SP, Madhu Kumar had obtained a loan of Rs 2.5 lakh from a bank to install a borewell.
“There was no water found in the spot where the borewell was dug in Madhu Kumar’s plot. He was unable to repay the loan and consumed poison on Tuesday night,” he added.
A case of farmer suicide has been filed at Maddur police station.
For the first time in four decades, the rainfall has been estimated at 28% of annual rainfall in the state and 46 years ago, the state had witnessed a similar state of drought with 71% rainfall shortage, Bangalore Mirror reported.
Districts of Gadag, Bagalkot, Bellary, Davanagere, Koppala, Raichur, Vijayapura, Haveri and Dharwad are facing an acute water shortage of nearly 90%.
Karnataka topped the list of states in which farmer suicides were reported in 2016, with 241 such cases being reported, while the figure stood at 107 in 2015.