KA-FLOODS-CM

Govt has worked "beyond limits" in providing relief to flood
victims: BSY
Bengaluru, Oct 30 (PTI) Karnataka Chief Minister B S
Yediyurappa on Wednesday said his government has honestly
worked "beyond limits" in providing relief and rehabilitation
to the flood affected in the state, as he hit out at the
opposition for trying to create "confusion".
"Unfortunately, the state had to face an unprecedented
flood situation in several areas. Our government gave
priorityto rescue, relief and rehabilitation work.
We have efficientlyfaced the situation and managed
things," Yediyurappa toldreporters here.
Karnataka had not seen such a flood situation in the last
118 years, Yediyurappa said and also pointed to the drought
condition in several other parts of the state.
"The opposition with trying to create confusion... the
government has worked beyond its limits to provide relief,
rehabilitation and in development work", Yediyurappa said.
His statement came even asthe Leader of the Opposition
Siddaramaiah on Wednesday accused the government of turning a
blind eye towards food victims.
"Many parts of Ktaka witnessed one of the worstfloods.
It has been more than 90 days since the onset of the
disaster. This has disturbed the livelihood of many ppl. Many
have no shelter, no fodder, no food, crops destroyed. Yet the
govt has turned a blind eye!!" Siddaramaiah tweeted.
"If the govt is incapable of plugging theimplementation
gaps they should resign instead of targetingthe opposition to
cover their failure.
@BJP4Karnataka leaders& @BSYBJP have time for party
meetings but busy to learn the reality of flood victims.
Shame!!" Siddaramaiah said inanother tweet.
A total of 2,798 villages in 103 taluks of 22districts
in Karnataka were affected by the rains and floodsin August,
in which around seven lakh people were shifted to safe areas.
Ninety one people lost their lives.
Last week there was a second spell of floods in parts of
the state, affecting thousands of people, whose damage is
currently under assessment, while 49 taluks in 18 districts
are drought affected.
Noting that the government had decided to provide more
relief to the flood affected than that specified under NDRF
norms,he claimed no state in the history of free India, which
had been affected by floods, had provided relief beyond norms.
"On one side loan waiver and on other side floodrelief..
despite this we have seen to it that development of the state
is not affected," he said.
He listed initiatives like providing Rs 10,000 as
immediate relief to those affected,Rs 25,000 to damaged shops,
Rs 50,000 to damaged looms and Rs five lakh for reconstruction
of damaged houses.
Also, 32,785 owners whose homes were damaged were given Rs
one lakh for foundationwork, after which the remaining
installments will be released.
He said damaged schools and infrastructure like roads,
bridges and electric connections werebeing restored.
Pointing out that the Centre has released Rs 1,200 crore
as immediate relief, Yediyurappa said the state wasexpecting
more in the days to come.
He claimed that the state's financial condition has
improved and therewas no shortage of funds for relief and
rehabilitation work and added that Rs 1,027 crore was
available with District Deputy Commissioners.
"We have reached the target in tax collection and
efforts are on to further improve it," he said. PTI KSU RS APR
APR APR

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)