Reiterating his demand for sanctioning financial assistance of ₹2,000 crore to take up relief operations in flood-hit Kodagu and neighbouring areas, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Thursday urged the Centre to send an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) for an early assessment of the situation.
The Chief Minister, who submitted an interim memorandum on the losses in the trouble-hit areas to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi on Thursday, said the initial estimates of the losses are ₹3,435.8 crore. He appealed to the Centre to immediately release the financial aid.
Referring to the seriousness of the deluge, he said the State had lost 65 human lives and 165 head of cattle. Besides, more than 5,500 houses had been destroyed and 2,000 km of roads damaged.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Since it is still raining in these areas, especially in Kodagu district, a detailed survey of the affected villages will be undertaken as soon as the conditions are favourable. The memorandum will then be revised,” he said, indicating that the final estimate of losses will be very high.
Coffee production in 2018-19 is likely to fall by at least one-fifth as Kerala and Karnataka (especially Kodagu) account for 90% of the country’s coffee production. “The losses will be to the tune of thousands of crores of rupees,” he said.
He expressed gratitude to the Centre for dispatching NDRF teams to Kodagu district.
ADVERTISEMENT
Later, Mr. Kumaraswamy told reporters that Mr. Singh had promised to apprise Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the situation as soon as he returns from the tour. “We will also submit another memorandum to the Centre regarding declaration of drought in areas that are reeling under rains,” he said.