PremiumWith 13 deaths and huge infrastructure destruction in the rain-battered Karnataka, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has ordered the officials to carry out relief work on a priority basis
As heavy rains caused huge destruction taking 13 lives in Karnataka, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday ordered officials to visit the flood-hit areas and carry out relief work on priority.
In the video conference meeting held with the Deputy Commissioners of flood-affected districts, the Karnataka CM took note of the situation and warned of leaving no loopholes in the relief system.
He also ordered stringent action against any staff who is caught doing negligence during relief work.
"It has come to notice that there have been lapses in some places while recording damages. The DCs' must take the lead to avoid any lapses. The memoranda seeking relief must be based on ground reality," the Karnataka CM said.
During the meeting, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) commissioners were ordered to release a circular to issue an additional relief other than NDRF guidelines for rain damages.
Along with this, the DCs were asked to make field visits and ensure proper recording of damages and distribution of compensation by the tehsildars.
It is worth noting that the state has been heavily hit by continuous rains since 1 October. From homes to crops, rains have caused huge property damage and also taken several lives in Karnataka.
As many as 28 livestock deaths have been reported along with the destruction of 3,309 houses. More than 1,330 people have been forced to take shelter in relief camps in the flood-affected areas of Karnataka. The state government has opened 5 relief camps across Karnataka.
Seeing the large-scale destruction across the rain-battered Karnataka, CM Bommai has ordered the officials to disburse input subsidies and relief for rain-related damages within October after holding a joint survey immediately.
He asked the officials to disburse the amount on a priority basis. The survey must be followed by the categorisation of the infrastructure destruction based on the extent of the damage. After this, officials are supposed to submit proposals on time.
Along with this, he also asked the authority officials to ramp up the reconstruction of damaged bridges and repair the broken electricity poles and transformers. He made sure that the power supply must be restored to the earliest.
To avoid further damage and casualty due to the flash floods, the CM has also directed the officials to take preventive measures at the district level. To carry out the relief measures on infrastructure damage in the state, officials were asked to make an action plan to initiate work by seeking funds.
Deputy Commissioners have a total of ₹635.13 crore to take up immediate rescue and relief works. According to the official data, monsoon has damaged crops in 9,90,957 hectares, and out of this loss in 6,16,138 hectares, 8.83 lakh farmers have been given a compensation of ₹947.8 crore.
Officials have set a target to disburse around ₹250 crore compensation among two affected lakh farmers. Moreover, more than 48,485 houses were damaged due to heavy rains last month. Out of them, the government has distributed compensation to 42,661 houses.
(With inputs from PTI)