A flooded house following monsoon rains in Mangaluru, Saturday. | Photo Credit: PTI
Mangaluru: An ambulance passes through a waterlogged road following monsoon rains, in Mangaluru, Saturday. | Photo Credit: PTI
Mangaluru City South MLA D. Vedavyas Kamath on Saturday said the government will pay compensation even to houses that witnessed ingress of floodwater and urged the affected to submit necessary application to the revenue authorities.
Visiting flood-affected areas and houses in the city, Mr. Kamath said unlike the earlier regimes where compensation was not paid for loss of household articles due to floods, the present government would pay ₹10,000 compensation. Besides, the BJP government has enhanced the compensation for complete damage of houses from ₹95,100 to ₹1 lakh besides considerably enhancing the compensation for partial damage of house. No compensation was paid earlier for loss of house articles due to floods however, he said.
The MLA attributed high tides in the Arabian Sea the reason for flash floods due to heavy rains early Saturday morning. With the reverse flow of water in stormwater drains, several areas got flooded, he said in a statement. He along with Mayor Premananda Shetty and area councillors have visited affected houses across the city, Mr. Kamath said.
He asked affected residents to keep photograph proofs of damage to household articles due to floods ready when village accountants or other revenue officials visit their houses for survey. They also should keep Aadhaar Card, bank account details ready to get compensation through direct benefit transfer.
Permanent solution
Mr. Kamath said the Minor Irrigation Department was allocated ₹70 crore for the first time to undertake works in Mangaluru urban area. Development and improvement works of stormwater drains were underway in many places across the city with works worth about Rs. 25 crore getting completed so far.
Drains overflowing with rains in May and subsequent monsoon has stalled the work progress, he said adding once the rains subside, all the pending works would be completed by December.
This should permanently solve artificial flooding in the city, the MLA said.
