The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Regulatory authority to manage flood situation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 28, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Regulatory authority to manage flood situation

Staff Reporter

It will also take care of relief measures: Jagadish Shettar

Central team likely to submit report by Tuesday
Precautionary steps help Government avert major untoward incidents

BANGALORE: The Government has decided to constitute a regulatory authority for managing flood situation, including the implementation of relief measures, on a permanent basis, Minister for Revenue Jagadish Shettar has said.

Replying to the ongoing discussion on flood situation, in which 18 members participated, in the Legislative Council on Friday, Mr. Shettar said that the Government had taken steps to shift a number of villages in the north Karnataka region that were being affected by the floods on a permanent basis.

The Government had sought additional assistance from the Union Government for helping the flood-affected people.

The Union Government had deputed a seven-member official team to access the extent of damage caused by the floods.

The team had been touring the State since Thursday and it was likely to submit a report to the Union Government by Tuesday, he added.

In the light of its experiences in the past two years, the Government took adequate precautionary measures in fighting the flood situation across the State.

There was a record rainfall on June 23, June 24 and June 30 in 146 taluks in the north Karnataka region and from June 23 to July 10 in the southern districts such as Kodagu, Chikmagalur and Hassan.

Precautionary steps

Precautionary measures initiated before the rain had helped the Government in averting major untoward incidents, he said.

The State suffered setbacks in protecting people from the unabated natural calamities such as flood and drought in 2005 and 2006.

The unexpected release of floodwaters from the Koyna Dam in 2005 had played havoc in the flood-affected border villages of Bijapur and Bagalkot districts.

Contrary to that experience, the Government could manage things properly this time as it had coordinated with the officials concerned in Maharashtra and organised itself to face the flood situation effectively, Mr. Shettar claimed.

The overall loss due to floods was estimated at Rs. 406 crore. An estimated 46,647 houses and 670 public buildings collapsed in the rain, 7, 979 km of road, 3,361 bridges and culverts, 6,291 electrical installations and 106 water supply units, including pumping stations, pipes and other material, were damaged, and 25,561 hectares of agricultural and 13,286 hectares of horticultural lands were submerged.

The fury of the floods took the lives of 206 persons and 2,786 livestock, he said.

The Government had established over 20 relief camps and food centres wherever necessary.

It had disbursed cash compensations for all the flood-affected families in the applicable categories.

However, in compliance with the recent guidelines of the Union Government, the State Government had made arrangements to disburse additional compensation for all those who suffered, he said.

Not convinced by the reply, the Opposition Congress staged a walkout towards the end of the day’s business.

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