Bengaluru: At least 12 are feared dead after heavy rainfall battered Karnataka for the second time in two months. Feeling the heat of the onward and return monsoons are mostly the northern part of the state, including districts like Belagavi, Bagalkote, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Koppal and Ballary.
Till the time of filing the report, bodies of five of the 12 dead were yet to be found. As many as 5,444 houses have been damaged, the highest being in Gadag — 1,814 houses. Forty-five animals have also died. According to the numbers from the Chief Minister's office, 2,176 people from eight districts are residing in 12 relief camps, at present.
Coastal and Malnad districts have been issued orange and red alert for the next five days and have been advised to stay on alert and take action.
Two teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and two teams of SDRF are stationed at Belagavi in addition to the state’s fire and rescue services department and one team of NDRF at Gadag.
A video of an 11-year-old girl standing in knee-deep water on a road in Bagalkote that has gone viral reflected the woes of people of the region.
The sixth standard student, Annapurna Malappa, is seen reading out a letter addressed to her constituency Mudhol’s MLA and other authorities about the condition of the road she is standing on in her village Ranna Belagali.
“Belagali town authorities, Mudhgol MLA panchayat chairman, members of the 17th ward, our road is flooded and for three days it has been so, but nobody has bothered about it. If you took oath to serve people, if you are politicians… If you cannot repair one road, why should you be the people's representative? Everyone, please share this till it reaches the MLA," she's heard saying in the video.
When local MLA Govind Karjol, who is also Deputy Chief Minister, was asked for a response outside his office in Vidhana Souda, Karjol evaded all questions.
The government is yet to make an estimate of the other flood-related losses, Law Minister JC Madhu Swamy told News18. He said Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has formed teams led by ministers that will visit the flood-affected regions.
Ramdevappa Yadavad, the BJP MLA of Ramdurga constituency in Belagavi, faced the wrath of locals who asked him why the chief minister’s promise during his last visit to build temporary sheds for the flood victims was yet to be fulfilled.
Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Siddaramaiah was also at the receiving end of the people's wrath when he visited his constituency Badami.
The floods in August cost the government a loss of about Rs 35,000 crore. After facing much criticism for not sending any aid to the region, a bone of contention within the state BJP unit, the Central government released Rs 1,813.75 crore from the National Disaster Relief Fund earlier this month. The meagre amount of relief compared to the estimated loss has left many, including those in the BJP, unhappy and the state government in a tough spot.
Comments
0 comment