Jagadish Shettar

Belgaum: Revenue Minister Jagadish Shettar has stressed the need for implementing relief measures on a war footing in the 128 taluks that have been affected by drought or floods during the past two years.

He told presspersons here on Tuesday that the Government was convinced that urgent measures were necessary to prevent people from migrating from the affected areas. The authorities had been asked to expedite relief work and complete it by the end of April.

He accused the Union Government of discriminating against Karnataka in releasing funds to tackle natural calamities. The Centre had provided only Rs. 226 crore to the State so far, which had already been spent. Karnataka had sought Rs. 1,200 crore for relief measures. It had also asked for five lakh tonnes of foodgrains, of which only 50,000 tonnes had been released this year. The Centre had promised to release another 50,000 tonnes soon, he said.

On shifting 41 villages that had been repeatedly fully or partially submerging by floodwaters in the district, he said the district administration had started the land acquisition process.

Deputy Commissioner Shalini Rajneesh, who was present, said about 369 acres of land was being acquired.

On the charge made by Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council H.K. Patil of large-scale migration coupled with an abnormally high school dropout rate in drought-hit Koppal district, Mr. Shettar said the charge was not true. He had visited the district twice to study the situation.

The school dropout rate was five per cent. He said the migration was seasonal and the situation was not alarming.

Ruled out

The Minister said there was no move to bifurcate any district as of now.

However, the Balasubramanian Committee had been appointed only to study the pros and cons of splitting Bangalore Rural, Gulbarga, Belgaum and Chikmagalur districts for administrative convenience.

The reorganisation of the districts would be considered only after the delimitation of Assembly and parliamentary constituencies was completed, he said.

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