KARNATAKA

More funds to be sought for rain relief in the district

Interaction: B. Nagaraj Shetty, district in-charge Minister, briefing presspersons on rain-related damage at Bajpe airport in Mangalore on Saturday.   | Photo Credit: — Photo: R. Eswarraj

Staff Correspondent

Estimated loss of property in Dakshina Kannada revised to Rs. 51.24 crore



Priority to be given to the affected people

Officials told to be responsive to people’s needs



MANGALORE: With the estimated loss of property – both private and public – owing to heavy rain in Dakshina Kannada district revised to Rs. 51.24 crore, the district administration has decided to urge the Government to provide the sum to take up relief measures. The Government has released Rs. 4.1 crore to the administration.

B. Nagaraj Shetty, district in-charge Minister told presspersons at Bajpe Airport near here on Saturday that he would meet Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and his deputy B.S. Yediyurappa in Bangalore on Monday and apprise them of the ground realities and urge them to release more funds for relief work. Officials have been instructed to take up relief work on a war footing, he said.

The administration had been instructed to help people who had lost their property in the recent floods. The work of repair and restoration of infrastructure such as roads and power lines would be taken up simultaneously. Public Works and National Highways departments had been directed to fill up the potholes and make the roads motorable, Mr. Shetty said.

Expressing disappointment over the inability of the Chief Minister to make an aerial survey of rain affected areas in the district owing to inclement weather, Mr. Shetty said he would apprise Mr. Kumaraswamy of the need to expedite development projects in Dakshina Kannada. Some of them included, land acquisition for expansion of Bajpe airport and the new downstream vented dam at Thumbay, he added.

Action plan

Bharathlal Meena in-charge Secretary of the district, said a draft action plan had been prepared on the pending development projects in the district and it would be pursued with the Government.

Some of those projects required approval from the Centre, he said.

MLAs Krishna Palemar, Shakuntala Shetty and U.T. Khader were present.