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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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.
