Damage caused by monsoon in K'taka pegged at Rs 3,600 cr: CM Bommai
Bengaluru, Sept 19: The monsoon this year caused a damage to the tune of Rs 3,600 crore to the crops, houses and infrastructure in Karnataka, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Monday.
He said the State would claim Rs 1,645 crore from the Centre under the National Disaster Relief Fund.
More than 10.06-lakh hectare of agricultural land and 42,048 houses were damaged in the flood. We had earlier estimated that the crop loss occurred in 5.8 lakh hectares but according to a broader estimate now, the loss happened in 10.06 lakh hectares till Sunday. We have estimated that Rs 1,550 crore will be required for the crop loss, Bommai told the Karnataka Assembly.
Bommai was participating in the discussion on the floods this year and the measures taken by the government.
He said till Sunday, compensation to the tune of Rs 377.44 crore was deposited into the bank accounts of 3.26 lakh farmers through direct benefit transfer.
We are depositing the money as the details are uploaded in the government data. We are giving compensation to the farmers within the season, which is a record. We have formulated a system to ensure that there is no dearth of funds, the Chief Minister said.
Bommai said the State government has estimated to pay Rs 850 crore for the damage to 42,048 houses due to the monsoon this year.
Already, Rs 3,104.74 crore has been released for the damage to the houses in three years since 2019, Bommai said. He added: "A sum of Rs 1, 527 crore will be required for the completition of houses, which we will release based on the progress in the construction of houses."
The money we immediately require to pay compensation is Rs 1,550 crore for crop loss, Rs 850 crore for damage to the houses, and Rs 1,200 crore for damage to the infrastructure, the Chief Minister said.
We have given a memorandum (to the Centre) with an estimate of Rs 7,700 crore earlier and now Rs 4,400 crore. This way, we are claiming a compensation of Rs 1,645 crore under the National Disaster Relief Fund, he added.
Bommai assured the House that the government would release funds making sure no one faces problems.
Pointing out that this year there was another major challenge of landslides in various parts of the State, he said of the many reasons, some were caused by human beings.
When I went to Bhatkal I realised that due to extensive mining of a hill for laterite rock, the landslide occurred. If you mine half of the hill, how it will stand for long. We need to stop such a practice as it causes loss to human lives, and the environment. I have directed the officials to stop it immediately, Bommai said.
The Chief Minister told the Assembly that the State government has tied up with a few organisations to stop landslide due to the seismic activities.
The State government has rushed to the rescue of people and responded to their woes. We have offered relief to the people. We are taking up the rehabilitation of people affected by floods and landslide, he said.
However, the Opposition leader Siddaramaiah said the government did not address the issues raised by him especially on climate change.
He disagreed with the government data that the cross loss has happened in 10.06 lakh hectares. He claimed that the crops in 18 lakh hectares were damaged.
The Chief Minister refuted the claim.
Siddaramaiah raised also the issue of multi-storey apartments on the stormwater drains and sought to know who gave licence to such a massive structure to come up on the stormwater drains in Bengaluru.
He said razing of 653 structures encroaching on stormwater drain would have prevented the floods.
Bommai said from 2017 to 2019, 1,502 encroachments were removed. The present government did not clear it because of stay in the High Court.
He said if the investigation is conducted, it would reveal who and when the licence was granted.
In reply, Siddaramaiah said he has no objection to the investigation.
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CJI's advice to aspirant: Join the bar, become a lawyer, don't hanker for judicial services post
New Delhi (PTI): She came to the Supreme Court seeking a re-evaluation of her paper in the examination for joining judicial services as a magistrate. What she got instead was a rejection — and a candid confession by the Chief Justice that he too had wanted to join the judicial services in his youth but was advised by a senior judge to become a lawyer instead.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi on Friday dismissed a plea filed by Prerna Gupta, the judicial services aspirant.
As Gupta pressed her case, the CJI intervened and said, "Let me share my personal story and I hope you will go happily as we cannot allow your petition."
He recounted his time as a final-year law student in 1984 when he wanted to become a judicial officer. As per requirement, he cleared the written test and was set to appear for an interview.
Judicial services is one of the two routes to become a judge after initially joining as a magistrate in lower court and thereafter rising through the ranks to become judge in a high court and possibly the Supreme Court.
The other route is to join the Bar, which means becoming a lawyer, and after building a reputation be picked from the Bar to become a judge at a senior level.
By the time the CJI's exam results came out, he had started practising at the Punjab and Haryana High Court when he was called for the interview.
The senior-most judge on the interview panel happened to be a judge before whom he had recently argued two significant matters.
"One of the matters was Sunita Rani vs Baldev Raj, where he had allowed my appeal in a matrimonial case and set aside the decree of divorce granted by the District Judge on the ground of schizophrenia," he noted.
Before the interview could take place, the judge called the young Surya Kant to his chamber and asked, 'Do you want to become a judicial officer?'
"I said 'yes.' He immediately said, 'Get out from (my) the chamber.'"
The courtroom fell silent as the CJI Justice described his initial heartbreak.
“I came out trembling. All my dreams were shattered. I thought he had snubbed me and that my career was over,” the CJI said.
However, the story took another turn the following day and the judge summoned him again, this time offering a piece of advice that would change the trajectory of his life.
“He said, ‘If you want to become (a judge), you are welcome. But my advice is, don’t become a judicial officer. The Bar is waiting for you,’” Justice Surya Kant recalled.
The CJI said he decided to skip his interview and didn't even tell his parents at first, fearing their disappointment, and instead chose to dedicate himself to his practice as an advocate.
“Now tell me did I make a bad right or bad decision,” the CJI asked and the litigant lawyer left the court with a smile on her face despite her case being dismissed.
Encouraging the petitioner to look toward the future rather than dwelling on the re-evaluation of a single paper, Justice Surya Kant said, "The Bar has much to offer."
