The State government has received flak from MLAs in Kodagu over its alleged apathy when it comes to the rehabilitation of people affected by the natural calamity that struck the district last August.
K.G. Bopaiah, MLA for Virajpet, said the government has not evinced interest in providing alternative housing to those who lost their property and were rendered homeless in the floods. There has been an administrative collapse in the State, and though promises were made in the initial stages, none of them has been implemented, he said.
The MLA said that the people of the State had responded to the Kodagu calamity and contributed nearly ₹200 crore to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, but the government had failed to utilise the money fully. He asked how many years it would take to rehabilitate the 800 or so families rendered homeless.
Mr. Bopaiah also said that there was no progress on identifying and allotting property to those whose plantations were devastated in landslips.
M.P. Appachu Ranjan, MLA for Madikeri, expressed concern over the delay in rehabilitation works and said that the south-west monsoon would lash the district again in a few months, but at the current pace it may not be possible for the State government to complete the rehabilitation works. He called upon the government to expedite the works and take up construction of 1,000 houses simultaneously.
Though Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had announced the constitution of a Kodagu Development Authority, it is yet to meet even once, he added.
Politics over contract
The contract pertaining to road repair and asphalting has taken a political turn, with BJP MLAs accusing the district in-charge Minister, S.R. Mahesh of the JD(S), of favouring contractors from his home constituency of K.R. Nagar in Mysuru.
“Let alone new contracts, the government is yet to clear the amount due to local contractors for clearing landslips and providing connectivity during the floods,” said Mr. Bopaiah.