Congress seeks Karnataka assembly session to discuss flood relief

The Congress in Karnataka on Saturday demanded that the state government call a special legislature session to discuss relief and rehabilitation to be undertaken in the flood-hit districts in the state.

The party leaders also wanted Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to convene an all-party meeting and lead a delegation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and central ministers seeking relief funds from the Centre.

"A week-long special session of the legislature should be convened to discuss only about the floods and no other issues.

Before that, an all-party meeting should be held and a delegation sent to the Central government, to meet the prime minister and ministers to seek a major share of relief from the Centre," Congress MLA and former minister M.B. Patil told reporters here.

Demanding that the calamity be declared a "national disaster", he said let the state government postpone certain developmental schemes if need be for a year as the chief minister himself has said the loss was estimated to be Rs 40,000 crore.

Patil, along with former minister and MLA Satish Jarkihioli, MLAs Ganesh Hukkeri and Anand Nyamagouda, who have toured the flood-hit districts in north Karnataka, said they would soon submit a memorandum to the Chief Minister.

Stating that no funds for flood relief have come from the central government, Patil said, "Instead of politicising it, we will have to work across partylines towards rebuilding the lives of people who were displaced."

In the recent floods, 103 taluks in 22 districts were hit by floods destroying agriculture and horticulture crops in about 7.5 lakh hectares and damaging over 75,300 houses.

A total of 88 people had died as on Thursday, with six still reported missing.

Meanwhile, an inter-ministerial central team is visiting the state for four days beginning on Saturday to assess the damage caused by the deluge.