M. Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, has urged the Union government to despatch two Central teams to study the impact of drought in some districts in Karnataka and the flood situation in Kalaburagi, Bidar and Belagavi.
He told The Hindu on Sunday that the State was facing a peculiar situation this year as there was severe drought and fall in groundwater levels in most parts of south Karnataka and central Karnataka and unprecedented floods in Kalaburagi and Bidar districts and parts of Belagavi district.
Standing crops on thousands of hectares of land had been damaged in places such as Chikkodi and farmers had incurred huge losses.
Mr. Kharge said that the Union government should send its team as early as possible and release funds to take up relief works and pay compensation to farmers.
He said that the Centre, while releasing the relief amount, had always exhibited a step-motherly attitude to Congress-ruled States and favoured BJP-ruled States.
At least now the Union government should change its attitude and provide generous relief to take up relief works.
Mr. Kharge said that the relief works should be planned in such a way that it mitigated the flood problem in Bidar and Kalaburagi districts permanently. The State government should upgrade old low-lying bridges across the streams, rivulets and rivers and construct elevated bridges to overcome flooding during monsoon.
Roads which had been damaged in floods should be repaired and they should be upgraded and widened. Besides taking up repair of the damaged portions of tanks and strengthening of bunds, the government should also take up the dredging of canals and distributaries using the funds available under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
State govt. told to upgrade and widen roads that have been damaged in the floods
