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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Sharad Pawar praised RSS after seeing how it burst fake narrative balloon of LS polls: Fadnavis
Nagpur, Jan 10: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar praised the RSS after realising how the outfit managed to overcome the fake narrative spread by the opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The opposition had claimed BJP wanted to win 400 seats to change the Constitution and end reservations, a narrative which BJP leaders later claimed hit the party hard.
On Pawar praising the RSS recently, the CM said the MVA was successful in creating a fake narrative during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"When assembly polls were approaching, many people from diverse fields who are inspired by the RSS played their role and burst the balloon of this fake narrative. Sharad Pawar saheb is very intelligent. He would have certainly studied this aspect. He realised that this (RSS) is not a regular political power but a nationalist power. In any competition it is good to praise others," he added.
That is why Pawar may have praised the RSS, Fadnavis said.
Speaking at an interaction with senior editor Vivek Ghalsasi at Late Vilasji Fadnis Jivhala programme here, Fadnavis also said he had asked for organisational work when Eknath Shinde was made chief minister in June 2022, but senior leaders asked him to join the government.
He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him not to behave like an extra-constitutional authority in the government.
He said the decision to become deputy chief minister on the command of the party leadership earned him a lot of praise from the cadre.
After the massive mandate the ruling alliance received in the 2024 assembly polls, Fadnavis said people and party workers would not have been happy if the CM was not from the BJP.
Shinde himself agreed within minutes that the CM must be from the BJP, which itself got 132 seats and was close to a majority of its own in the 288-member assembly, he added.
On Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting him during the winter sessions of the legislature in Nagpur, Fadnavis said he had announced he would not indulge in politics of revenge after becoming CM and all leaders responded positively to it.
On chances of the NCP (SP) and NCP coming closer or reuniting, Fadnavis said, "If you see the developments that took place from 2019 to 2024, I realised never say never and anything can happen. Uddhav Thackeray goes to some other party and Ajit Pawar comes to us. In politics anything can happen though I am not saying this should happen."
He praised BJP leader Arun Gujarati from whom he learnt patience, which he claimed was an important quality in politics along with the ability to take criticism.
In a lighter vein, he said, "I only get angry when I am hungry. If you see me angry then give me something to eat and my anger will go away."
