Prakash, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, who is heading the flood assessment team of the Union government, has said that the farmers demand to enhance the quantum of compensation would be considered.
Speaking to presspersons during a visit to the flood-affected areas in the district on Monday, Mr. Prakash said that several farmers, including sugarcane growers, have raised the issue of quantum of compensation for crop loss being less. This issue has also been discussed at several meetings. The government would consider their demand, he said.
Mr. Prakash said that the situation in the district was serious and the farmers have suffered badly due to the loss of standing crops. There were incidents of house collapse and loss of property. During the interaction with the farmers it was found that they have suffered severe losses. In one case it was found that a farmer has lost entire quantity of crops on his 32 acres of farm land. However, the total loss needs to the assessed as the set parameters. This is the first visit and the team would pay one more visit after receiving the memorandum by the State government, he said.
Mr. Prakash has appreciated the district administration and the State Government officials for competently handling the situation during the heavy and floods, particularly, the rescue operation and relief works.
The team has visited different villages and received first hand information about the loss of crops, private and public properties. The team has Alagawadi village of Navalgund taluk and received information about the damage caused to the district major road, bridge and crops like brinjal, green gram, maize, potato, sunflower and cotton.
In Kiresur village, the team members have visited the fields of the farmers which have been submerged during the floods causing crop losses due to the crop loss and interacted with the women. Later, they visited the Unkal, Hanumanth Nagar and Devi Nagar areas in Hubballi where the bridges and other public properties have been damaged. In Gokul village, the team has visited the areas where houses have been damaged during the floods. They also visited several other places.
Team members S.C. Meena, Director, FCD, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, Punnuswamy JD, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, Jitender Panwar, SE, Ministry of Water Resources, Regional office, Bengaluru, Vijay Kumar, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Regional Office, Manik Chandra Pandit, DS (DISHA), Ministry of Rural Development, New Delhi and O. P. Suman, Deputy Director, Ministry of Power, New Delhi. Later, Deputy Commissioner M. Deepa has briefed the team about the flood situation in the district at the airport premises.
