GP-level committees at work in 12 districts to help the flood-hit

They have been trained to undertake rescue operations under KSDMA supervision

Kurubageri, a locality in Sringeri, which was flooded in the recent rains.

Given the experience of last year’s floods, Karnataka has pressed into service gram panchayat-level flood management committees at 826 GPs in 12 flood-prone districts of the State to help those affected. The hope is that this will help those in distress as State this year too has been hit by rains.

The committees have been given training for undertaking various rescue operations during floods under the supervision of the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA).

Flood-vulnerable areas were mapped and teams constituted at the GP level in 12 vulnerable districts for swift response, Manoj Rajan, Commissioner, KSDMA, told

The Hindu . Keeping COVID-19 also in consideration, a survey was conducted to identify vulnerable people such as the physically challenged, children, and the elderly to shift them to safer locations during floods.

A total of 1,780 shelters have been identified in 12 districts for relocating people in case of floods, he said.

A total of 826 GPs have been identified as flood-prone in Bagalkot (76), Belagavi (209), Chikkamagaluru (47), Dakshina Kannada (72), Hassan (24), Kodagu (104), Koppal (21), Mysuru (33), Raichur (32), Shivamogga (101), Udupi (36), and Uttara Kannada (71).

Tasks for committees

Six committees have been formed in each GP and the committees have been assigned six tasks such as sending flood alerts through SMS and WhatsApp, evacuation of people, shifting them to shelters for temporary relocation, supply of food to people shifted to shelters, maintaining hygiene, and assessing distress and losses caused by floods.

These committees have been coordinating with district- and taluk-level disaster management committees for establishing critical infrastructure, obtaining tools and equipment required to rescue people, and clearing fallen trees and uprooted electric poles on the roads, he said. The district, taluk and GP-level committees were being updated about the rain forecast periodically, Mr. Rajan added.