Karnataka - Gulbarga   

A.P.-based consultant to conduct a study on flood-prone villages

GULBARGA: An attempt is being made to cut down the expenditure on shifting of flood-prone villages in the district by introducing measures to ensure people’s safety in the event of floods.

A technical study by a private consultant has been ordered in select villages that were affected by the recent floods in the district. Though the floods have not caused widespread damage in these villages, there has been a demand for relocating them.

People of the villages, where the damage had been less owing to the floods in the past, seldom shifted to new locations despite the Government constructing new houses and providing all amenities to them. This is because of their emotional attachment to the villages

Deputy Commissioner R. Vishal has ordered a technical study to be conducted by a Hyderabad-based private consultant on the possibility of raising the height of the approach roads with adequate drains to prevent water from entering the villages in the event of floods. “We will implement the recommendations of the consultant only if they are feasible and cost effective,” Dr. Vishal told The Hindu. He said that the technical study would be taken up at Havinal and Neelakantarayanagudi in Surpur taluk, Akandahalli in Jewargi taluk and Pet Ferozabad in Gulbarga taluk. “We would also study the cost-ratio of accepting the recommendations or to shift the affected villages,” he added. Dr. Vishal said shifting of only the affected families from a village would help in bringing down the cost and ensuring their faster rehabilitation and relocation. It had been estimated that the district administration needed 275 acres of private land apart from 150 acres of government land for relocation of the affected villages. While 12 villages were scheduled to be relocated completely, 37 would be partially relocated.

The district administration had procured 200 acres of land and negotiations were on to purchase 75 acres more. “We may need Rs. 6 crore for purchasing land, Rs. 50 crore for constructing houses and Rs. 120 crore for infrastructure development such as layout formation, roads and drains,” Dr. Vishal said.

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A.P.-based consultant to conduct a study on flood-prone villages

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