845 houses, 123 km road damaged in Kodagu: CM Kumaraswamy
Disaster claims 12 lives
Bengaluru, August 20: Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy said that the natural disaster has literally devastated the Kodagu district where 12 persons were died and 845 houses were completely damaged in the floods and landslides.
Speaking to reporters at his Home Office Krishna here on Monday, the Chief Minister said that he conducted aerial survey for two days in Kodagu where landslidings were occurred in many places. Total 773 houses were partially damaged. Around 123 km roads, 58 bridges, 278 government buildings and 3,800 electric poles were damaged in the incident. The normal life was affected severely. So far, 4,320 people were rescued. As the rain was subsidized since Sunday evening, relief works and rescue operations were intensified, he said.
Total 1,725 specially trained experts from district administration, police department, State Reserve Police Force, Army, Air Force, Navy, NDRF, Revenue Department, NCC, Citizens Protection Group, Home Guards and others have been working on war footing for round-the-clock. M-17 helicopter of Indian Air Force has been working from Harangi reservoir. Every day, the Chief Secretary of the Government and other senior officers of the departments have been overseeing the situation and providing the updates, he said.
The President, Prime Minister and Defence Minister have spoken to him over telephone and got the details about the situation. They have provided required help and promised further assistance. Today afternoon, the Chief Secretary held a video conference with the deputy commissioners of Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts and directed them to take all possible measures. The normal life in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts was limping to normalcy. Though the rain was subsidized in Kodagu, the normal life was gone out of control. Taking relief measures to rebuild the entire district was a real challenge to the state government now, the CM said.
District Minister, district secretary, DGP Fire Brigade, two ADGPs, and two additional chief secretaries have camped in the district and overseeing the relief works. Some of the district level officers of neighbouring Mysuru and Dakshina Kannada districts have been working in Kodagu. Probationary IAS officers working in Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada districts were deputed to Kodagu, he said.
Total 41 relief centres were opened in Kodagu and nine centres in Dakshina Kannada district. Total 6,620 distressed people were given shelter in those centres where milk and drinking water was made available. The relief materials being supplied from other places were collected in the APMC yard and distributing through gram panchayats, he said.
The government has deputed five special medical teams and 10 revenue officers teams for the relief works. Total 60 JCB machines and 20 Bolero vehicles were pressed into action. Within next ten days, temporary aluminum sheds would be put up for the people, for which the place is being finalized, he said.
Three extensions in Kushalnagar were submerged and a technical team from BBMP has been to Kodagu to pump the water out of the extension. In order to contain the possible outbreak of contagious diseases after the flood situation, the government has already constituted medical and non-medical teams and special units of the Health department and those teams would work in the district.
Under the MNREGS, the local labourers at Madikeri, Kushalnagar, Suntikoppa, Somwarpet and other towns would be provided jobs of removing the debris and waste generated from the flood. As the books and uniforms supplied to schools and colleges in the district were damaged, fresh sets of textbooks and uniforms would be provided to the students, he said.
He has also directed the authorities to give Rs 3,800 to each family of 5,800 distressed people sheltered in relief camps. He also directed the Food and Civil Supplies department and the district administration to start 10 mobile units to provide 10 kg of rice, one kg of sugar, one kg of tur dal, five litre kerosene and five litre of palm oil to the door-steps of 50,000 families in the district, he added.
The PWD authorities have been trying to remove the mud covered on the Bhagamandala-Napoklu-Ayyangeri, and Sullia-Madikeri linking roads. KPTCL and CHESCOM have constituted special teams to restore the power connectivity in rural and urban areas as early as possible. For school children, it was directed to take special classes to cover the portions. The transfer of officials was suspended in the district and vacant posts would be filled immediately, he said.
IAS officers would be entrusted the responsibility of preparing the list of loss in each taluk and oversee the construction of houses, he said.
For donations
The donors who want to donate for the flood victims, could contribute to the ‘Chief Minister’s Relief Fund’ account. Account Name: Chief Minister’s Relief Fund Natural Disaster-2018, Bank: State Bank of India, Branch: Vidhana Soudha, A/c: 37887098605, IFSC Code: SBIN0040277, MICR No: 560002419. The donations would have Income Tax relaxation under Income Tax Act 80-G.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
