Army to rebuild battered roads in Karnataka's Kodagu
Bengaluru, Aug 23 : The Indian Army's engineering task force will help the district administration in restoring the severely battered roads in flood-hit Kodagu district, an official said on Thursday.
"About 75 Army engineering task force personnel will be assisting the district officials in restoring the critical roads of Kodagu," the state Relief Commissioner Gangaram Baderiya said in a statement.
The heavy rains leading to flash floods and landslips in the coffee-growing district, about 270km from the state capital, have claimed 16 lives in 10 days from August 14, Baderiya said.
As the intensity of rainfall in the district reduced since Sunday, about 50 Dogra Regiment soldiers, 12 Navy divers, 62 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) officials, Air Force officials and other state disaster response agencies are screening all the houses in affected areas.
About 5,000 people are currently sheltered in 51 relief camps across the district.
"The state is working on constructing temporary structures using aluminium to house around 10,000 homeless people displaced due to the landslides," Baderia said.
Kodagu district officials have been asked by the state to identify land for long-term rehabilitation of the homeless.
"Housing and Revenue Departments will construct the houses within a specific timeframe," the IAS officer said.
The district officials are giving Rs 3,800 of interim relief per family as per the Karnataka government's decision to allot Rs 2.2 crore to benefit 5,800 people affected due to the floods.
In addition, the families can also receive rice, oil, sugar, salt and dal as ration.
The state has released Rs 30-crore so far for relief and restoration work.
Several schools reopened across the district on Thursday and children were seen assisting in cleaning up their classrooms.
About 60 schools in the worst affected villages and towns will, however, remain shut till Saturday for restoration.
"Water, dry food and rations have been airdropped in inaccessible villages through choppers," the statement added.
Air Force officials have been transporting relief material to Kodagu from neighbouring Mysuru district through military aircraft.
The village administrations and city municipal bodies in the district have been given Rs 50,000 each to sanitise water bodies, which have been polluted by the rains and landslides.
Under the national rural employment scheme, the district officials said they will find employment opportunities for the displaced, including involving them in clearing the debris.
The district will soon have common service centres that will issue duplicate identity cards, certificates and documents, which people may have lost in the heavy rains and floods.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
