The Hindu : Front Page : Flood relief: industries asked to help

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Thursday, Aug 11, 2005

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Flood relief: industries asked to help

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh has appealed to industry, trade bodies and non-governmental organisations to contribute in cash or kind to take up relief works in the flood-affected districts of north Karnataka.

At a meeting with representatives of corporates, information technology companies and citizens' groups, Mr. Dharam Singh and Deputy Chief Minister M.P. Prakash said the losses in nine flood-affected districts have been estimated at nearly Rs. 1,200 crores.

There is an urgent need to provide shelter, medicines, food and clothing for lakhs of families in 145 villages.

"We need your help, which you have generously given in the past and helped the State become the leading contributor in the post-tsunami relief work. This is no less devastating, and we can do our duty only if you pitch in," Mr. Dharam Singh said. The Centre has already announced the release of Rs. 100 crores for relief work, and the Prime Minister is expected to undertake an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas on Friday.

Mr. Singh told presspersons that the Government has made it clear to the Prime Minister that the floods in Maharashtra cannot be blamed on the State, and water is not being held in the Alamatti dam. Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and his colleagues have also been convinced that their demand for the release of six lakh cusecs of water from the Alamatti dam will not only inundate scores of villages in the Krishna basin in the State but those in Maharashtra as well.

Revenue Commissioner S.M. Jaamdar said that according to inflow and outflow readings from the Central Water Commission, the Alamatti dam is only filled to 55 per cent of its capacity. The outflow from the Alamatti was 4.27 lakh cuses on Wednesday.

Mr. Dharam Singh said that President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has written a letter in which he urged the State Government to ensure that all measures are taken to provide relief to those affected by the floods.

Rehabilitation measures

Mr. Prakash said that apart from providing immediate relief material, industry and citizens must also consider joining restoration and rehabilitation efforts such as construction of houses and school buildings.

Information Technology Secretary M.K. Shankarlinge Gowda said many people have lost their land records in the floods, and once the districts recover, arrangements will be made to provide fresh land records free of cost.

Representatives of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Karnataka Small-Scale Industries' Association, Confederation of Indian Industry, several corporate houses, NGOs and trade bodies, have agreed to contribute to the relief works in the State.

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