CM Bommai seeks aid from Centre for rain-hit areas

Bommai said since November, ₹500 crore was released twice and ₹600 crore was released two days ago towards restoring infrastructure damages.

Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said that the state government will seek compensation from the central government for the rain-related damages in Bengaluru and has already prepared a memorandum for the same.

A boy pushes a table in a flooded locality of Bellandur after heavy monsoon rains, in Bengaluru, Wednesday. (PTI)

The announcement was made after the CM held a meeting with the central team — led by Union home ministry joint secretary Ashish Kumar on Wednesday — visiting the state to take stock of the flood situation. The government also discussed the damage caused due to floods in July and August with the central team.

The central team was scheduled to visit Chitradurga, Hassan, Chikmagalur, Haveri, Dharwad, Gadag, Bidar and Kalaburgi districts but Bommai suggested they also visit Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada districts that witnessed the massive landslide, sea erosion and other damaged, a statement from the chief minister’s office (CMO) read.

“The team was asked to take stock of the flood situation in Bengaluru City, Mandya and Ramanagar districts. Bommai informed the team that this time, a large number of fishing boats, shops and other business establishments had been damaged,” read the statement.

“In Ramanagar, silk reeling units and twisting units too have suffered damage. This kind of damage has happened for the first time. It has impacted the lives of many people. The team must try to extend the maximum help on the humanitarian ground,” read the statement. The central team consists of Union finance ministry deputy secretary Mahesh Kumar, department of energy assistant director Bhavya Pandey, Ashok Kumar from the ministry of Jal Shakti, Union ministry of surface transport and highways executive engineer VV Shastri, Dr K Manoharan from ministry of agriculture and farmers’ welfare and, ministry of rural development under secretary SB Tiwari.

The CM said that Karnataka has a coastal area of 330 km and works worth ₹350 crore were taken up to prevent sea erosion in several sensitive places but, erosion took place in new spots. “The central government assistance is required for protection of complete coastal region,” the statement added.

Bommai said since November, ₹500 crore was released twice and ₹600 crore was released two days ago towards restoring infrastructure damages. The state was giving additional input subsidy for the crop loss, and ₹2,452 crore was disbursed among 18.58 lakh farmers. Out of this, ₹1160 crore has been borne from the state exchequer. All the relief amounts are directly released to the bank accounts of the affected, he said.

The CM said that proposal regarding the damages caused in the last week will also be submitted immediately.