Ashok Kheny, Bidar South MLA, has urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to release compensation to farmers who have incurred crop loss in the recent rain and the flooding that followed in the Bidar South Assembly Constituency.
The State government should immediately release Rs. 20,000 to each one of the 42,000 farm families who have lost houses and crops in the Bidar South Assembly Constituency, he told presspersons here on Monday. The State government should also release Rs. 5,000 to each family for emergency expenses, he said.
The State government should not wait for scientific assessment of loss as it is time consuming, he said and added that his office had conducted a survey of crop loss in the constituency.
“I did not attend the special session of the State legislature on Cauvery. I stayed back in the villages and tried to help the people ... while the Cauvery issue is man made, this is a natural calamity,” he said.
According to him, 90 per cent of the crops on the 51,000 hectares of farm land had suffered damage.
“Farmers in the constituency have repeatedly suffered. They had a bad rabi season last year. Then, the Bidar Sahakari Sakkare Karakhane stopped crushing sugarcane and failed to pay dues to sugarcane suppliers. Now, they have suffered the worst tragedy of their life,” Mr. Kheny said.
“This is the highest rainfall in 108 years. Rainfall in the last 25 days has been 225 per cent more than the average,” he said.
The government should expedite the process and release compensation quickly, he said. The State government should use satellite imagery and other technology to assess crop loss. He volunteered to lend some drones to assess the loss.
“At least 571 houses have collapsed. I request the State government to grant 600 more houses for the flood-affected families in the constituency, apart from the routine grant of houses,” he said.
He urged the Chief Minister to declare his constituency as a disaster-prone area and seek Central assistance.
He urged the CM to waive all the loans taken by farmers from cooperative banks and nationalised banks. “Some States have done this,” he said.
He urged the government to set up a call centre to help farmers seek relief from crop insurance agencies. He said that the government should regularise encroachments in the Karanja backwaters by allotting land and houses to those cultivating encroached land.
He urged the government to fill vacancies in various departments and create a special deputy commissioner’s post to address the problems of farmers.
He said the government should strengthen the 89 tanks in the constituency. He also sought Rs. 50 crore for road and bridge repairs.
‘I didn’t attend the special session of the State legislature on Cauvery. I stayed back in the villages and helped people’
“I did not attend the special session of the State legislature on Cauvery. I stayed back in the villages and tried to help the people... while the Cauvery issue is man made, this is a natural calamity,” the MLA has said.
