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Saturday, Nov 12, 2005

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Flood damage severe: Central team

Staff Reporter

FEEDBACK TIME: Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh, Chief Secretary B.K. Das (centre) and Central team leader Ranjan Bhattacharya at a meeting on Friday. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE: The damage caused by heavy rain and floods in Bangalore and in other parts of the State is "very severe."

This is the assessment of the seven-member Central team headed by Joint Secretary in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs Ranjan Bhattacharya.

Mr. Bhattacharya told presspersons after a meeting with Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh that the team will submit a report to the Centre immediately. The team arrived in Bangalore on November 9 and got down to business immediately.

It split into three teams and visited all the 12 affected districts to assess the damage caused by last month's heavy rain and floods to infrastructure and public and private property.

S.M. Jaamdar, Principal Secretary to the Government, Department of Revenue; Ramesh B. Jhalki, Secretary (Scarcity); V.P. Baligar, Principal Secretary, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj; and K. Jothiramalingam, Commissioner, Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP), made a presentation on the situation.

The Centre deputed the team after a delegation led by Mr. Dharam Singh met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil in New Delhi on Saturday last seeking an assistance of Rs. 1,167 crores.

The Chief Minister expected the team to draw the Centre's attention to the severe natural calamity suffered by the State.

The Centre released Rs. 400 crores for taking up immediate relief measures in the flood-affected areas in north Karnataka. Expressing his happiness over the team's visit to the affected areas in Bangalore, Bidar, Belgaum, Gulbarga, Raichur, Hassan, Mandya and Mysore districts in three batches for assessing the damages, Mr. Dharam Singh exuded confidence that substantial relief would be received from the Centre.

When his attention was drawn to the statements of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders that the Prime Minister had not stated that the Centre would release the funds sought by the State, Mr. Dharam Singh said the Prime Minister told the delegation that money is not a problem.

His words should be understood properly, Mr. Singh added.

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