Hubballi: Ineffective handling of the flood situation in North Karnataka has further exposed the inefficiency of the Yeddiyurappa government, alleged former minister and AICC working committee member HK Patil here on Thursday.
“Kalyana Karnataka region has been staring at the worst flood in the recent past and North Karnataka was battered by floods due to unexpected downpour in the past two months. But the state government is in deep slumber and the local administrations have not taken any relief and rehabilitation measures except opening gruel centres,” he said.
“As a rough estimate, around 10,000 families were stranded in flood water, over 1 lakh houses have collapsed and crops on 10 lakh hectares are inundated leading to crop loss of Rs 35,000 crore. Despite such a heavy loss, neither the chief minister nor his cabinet colleagues have shown concern. After two months Yediyurappa has conducted an aerial survey,” he charged.
Stating that the government was unprepared despite getting forecasts from the Meteorological Department over possible heavy downpour, Patil said a plan should be chalked out on how to tackle situations arising out of floods and seek legitimate help from the Central government. He also appealed to the Narendra Modi government to respond positively.
Patil expressed concern over the recent statement of Union minister for Jalashakati Gajendra Shekhawat over the sharing of Krishna river water and said the minister should clarify that the dispute was between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and it should be addressed within the share apportioned to undivided Andhra Pradesh and that it has nothing to do with Karnataka’s share.