China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Friday the country has allocated 340 million yuan ($53.80 million) for regions plagued by floods and droughts.

In a bid to deal with the dipping water level in almost all reservoirs across the State, the government on Wednesday decided to release Rs 176 crore for drought and flood-related works. Rs one crore has been earmarked for each of the 123 drought-affected taluks.

Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda, as instructed by the party high command, held a meeting to review the prevailing drought situation. Surprisingly, his detractors Agriculture Minister Umesh Katti and Water Resources Minister Basavaraj Bommai were present. Minor Irrigation Minister Govind Karjol too attended the meeting.

The Centre is likely to sanction Rs 294 crore as grant for drought relief to Karnataka. This means that the State gets just eight per cent of the total relief of Rs 3,605 crore it had sought from the Union government.

Secretariat sources said the Centre had indicated to the State that a final decision would be taken at a high-level committee meeting in New Delhi, either on June 1 or 2.

The centre has sanctioned Rs588 crore as a relief measure in the 15 drought-hit districts of the state, announced relief and rehabilitation minister Patangrao Kadam here on Tuesday.

The Central government has sanctioned Rs. 588 crore as drought relief for Maharashtra, which is reeling under the crisis, Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Patangrao Kadam announced on Tuesday.

The State whose 15 districts have been declared drought-affected, had appealed to the Centre for relief recently. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and representatives of all parties had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with a proposal for Rs. 2,700 crore.

State had sought . 2,281 crore for relief measures in 15 drought-hit districts. The union government has approved an assistance of Rs 575 crore to Maharashtra towards drought relief work.

It will be a while before Karnataka can expect any grant from the Centre for drought relief.

The Central drought assessment team headed by Parvesh Sharma on Wednesday directed the State government to furnish detailed statistics within a week’s time. The officials, at a meeting presided over by Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, expressed dissatisfaction over the information provided by the Gowda-led all-party delegation in its memorandum.

The Central team touring the State to assess the drought situation has concluded that the drought in Chitradurga district is severe.

A member of the team, D Rajashekar, Deputy Advisor, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, New Delhi, told mediapersons in Chitradurga on Tuesday that the water table had depleted and borewells have dried up. The team will recommend to the Centre in its report to roll out development schemes to alleviate the sufferings of the drought-affected, he said. He commended the officials for the drought-relief works taken up in the district.

Bangalore: Power struggle, politicking and blame game are keeping state BJP leaders busy. And there is no one to pay attention to the problems faced by drought-hit people in the districts.

The Centre is expected to release a first instalment of about `700 crores assistance for drought relief works in Maharashtra in the next few days.

Union ministers Mr Pranab Mukherjee, Mr Sharad Pawar, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal and the deputy chairman planning commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia are expected to meet on this issue either on Monday or Tuesday, sources said.