Foot-and-mouth disease claims 7,945 head of cattle in Karnataka

The foot-and-mouth disease has claimed 7,945 head of cattle in the State.

In a reply to an unstarred question of M. Krishna Reddy (Janata Dal-S), Animal Husbandry Minister T.B. Jayachandra said that compensation of Rs. 5 crore had been paid and another Rs. 8 crore would be given after obtaining a clearance from the Finance Department.

The Minister said that 5,340 villages have reported this disease.

Power

Nearly 15,000 new electricity transformers would be purchased from Karnataka Vidyutchakthi Kharkhane and Kerala and West Bengal to overcome shortage of transformers in the State.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that the transformers developed snags due to overloading to use irrigation pumpsets illegally. Steps had been taken to create transformer banks in all district headquarters and improve the power distribution network.

Power supply to hamlet

Mr. Siddaramaiah said that power would be supplied to a hamlet in Mahime village of Honnavar taluk of Uttara Kannada which has had no electricity since Independence.

Replying to Mankala Subba Vaidya of the BJP, he said that there was delay in supplying power as the department had to put up electricity poles inside forest. In view of this, the government had given solar lamps to families at a cost of Rs. 1 crore.

Electricity poles

The member pointed out that the Hubli Electricity Supply Company had put up 175 electricity poles and it had to install 100 more poles. The people of this village were living without power supply for the last six decades, he said.

Visveshwar Hegde Kageri of the BJP said that the problem was prevalent in Malnad areas and wanted the government to address it at the earliest.