A Central team visited flood-hit villages in Jewargi and Surpur taluks on Wednesday to assess the damage caused by the recent floods and torrential rainfall. The team comprised R.K. Sharma of the Planning Commission, P.R. Gurmukhi, Director of Directorate of Oilseeds, Hyderabad, and P. Raut, Director of Ministry of Power, Hyderabad.
Addressing presspersons after conducting a survey of the breached Halagdala tank in Jewargi taluk, Mr. Sharma said that the team had surveyed the loss of life and property in the district. The team will meet O. Ravi, Joint Secretary, Agriculture Department, in Bangalore on October 23.
Mr. Sharma said that the team would submit its report to the Union Government in a week.
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Earlier, the team visited a bridge built across the Bhima at Kattisangavi village in Jewargi taluk of the district. The team spoke to the residents and enquired about their living conditions after the floods. The residents told the team that the floods and torrential rain had caused enormous damage to property and crops.
The team visited fields belonging to farmers Ramchandra Kulkarni and Gunderao in Jewargi and saw the damage to the standing toor crop. The fields were inundated in the floods.
Special Officer for Yadgir district K.G. Jagadeesh told the team that the water from the breached Halagadla tank had entered the agricultural fields and caused losses to farmers. Owing to the breach in the tank, it would be difficult to supply water for cultivation of rabi crops.
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Interacting with the visiting team, the farmers said that those whose fields were in low-lying areas had suffered huge losses on account of the breach in the Haladagla tank.
Jewargi MLA Doddappa Patil Naribola urged the team to recommend adequate financial assistance to the taluk. Mr. Naribola put the loss in Jewargi taluk at Rs. 80 crore.
Chief Executive Officer of the zilla panchayat V. Anbukumar; Assistant Commissioner, Gulbarga, Sangappa; Joint Director, Agriculture Department, Chandrashekar; Deputy Director of Animal Husbandry Department Sharanappa Nilange were among the officials who accompanied the Central team during their inspection.
Presentation
Earlier, the district administration explained the extent of damage caused by the floods and rain with the help of a PowerPoint presentation at Aiwan-e-Shahi Guesthouse in Gulbarga city.
Deputy Commissioner R. Vishal, who made the presentation, said that the district administration had submitted a report after assessing the damage in flood-hit areas of the district. The damage has been put at Rs. 699.18 crore.
The Central team was told that there was a need for an immediate relief of Rs. 150 crore to pay compensation and to restore infrastructure in Gulbarga district . The State Government had given administrative approval for Rs. 76.36 crore to take up 1,092 works in the district.
The State Government had released Rs. 44.49 crore as relief. Out of it, Rs. 37.49 crore was towards setting up basic infrastructure and another Rs. 7 crore was towards compensation for persons whose houses and crops had been damaged in the district.
The team was told that nearly 10,560 families were badly affected owing to the floods and heavy rain.
Twenty-three people had died and four persons were injured. As many as 852 animals were killed.
A total of 47,239 houses were damaged and the loss was estimated at Rs. 46.48 crore. Crops on 90,154 hectares of land were damaged and the loss had been estimated at Rs. 89.19 crore.