Karnataka: Senior Congress MLA asks government to declare Karnataka floods as natural disaster
Vijayapura: Describing the recent flood and torrential rains as one of the most devastating natural calamities in the history of the district, veteran Congress MLA, Yeshwantraigouda Patil has demanded the Central Government to declare it as ‘Natural Disaster’.
Addressing presspersons on Tuesday, he said that the district has witnessed heavy loss to properties and the crop. The neighboring districts such as Kalaburagi too have suffered similar losses due to the heavy rains he added.
“Since Chief Minister, BS Yediyurappa is coming for an aerial survey of the flood situation in Vijayapura on Wednesday, after taking stock of the situation, he should urge the Central Government to declare these floods as a natural disaster. Since the State government is facing acute financial crises, it may not be in a position to allocate adequate funds for relief operations. If declared as a national disaster, the Central government can offer funds to help the affected people of this region”, Patil said.
Referring to the reports of the State government deciding to borrow Rs. 36,000 crore from banks to meet financial deficit, Patil opined that these funds should be used to help the victim by keeping other development projects pending for some time as they are not more important than bringing the life of affected people back to normal.
Blaming no coordination between the officials between Maharashtra and Karnataka for discharging huge quantum of water from dams of Maharashtra to Karnataka, that led to major crop loss, Patil said that the Central Government should formulate a national policy on monitoring the discharge of water from dams.
“Due to the lack of coordination between States on discharging water from the dams, poor people suffer as water enters their habitation and farms. Since discharging of water from major dams is an inter-State issue, the Central Government should form a separate policy for keeping a watch over the discharge to prevent damage to people and properties that happens due to unscientific discharge of water”, he said.
Besides urging the Central Government to frame a monitoring policy, the MLA suggested the State government to deploy a State’s official in Maharashtra during monsoon season to keep track of the discharge of water from their dams in Krishna and Bhima Rivers.
Lamenting that till today, there is no exact data available on the quantum of water Maharashtra has discharged from its dams into Karnataka, Patil demanded a fact-finding committee to be set to find out the truth.
“We kept receiving conflicting reports of the quantum of water discharged by Maharashtra. Different officials gave different figures. The government must find the exact data and take action against officials who did not keep track of the release”, he said.
Blaming the officials of Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Limited for failing to discharge the water at the right time from Sonna Barrage, he said that if the water was discharged at the right time, it would have saved several properties from damage.
Taking exception to the government’s decision of giving only Rs. 10,000 as interim relief to affected people, Patil said that it should be at least Rs. 1 lakh to rebuild the houses and cover the loss.
To a question, he said that during his meeting with the CM on Wednesday, he will present all his demands.
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India delivers first batch of BrahMos missiles to Philippines
New Delhi, Apr 19: India on Friday delivered the first batch of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines, in reflection of the growing military ties between the two countries amid China's military muscle-flexing in the South China Sea.
The supplies came over two years India signed a USD 375 million deal with the Southeast Asian nation to supply the weapon systems.
A C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) transported the missile and the launchers to the Philippines for the country's marine forces, official sources said.
Under the January 2022 deal, India will supply three batteries of the missiles, their launchers and related equipment.
It was the first export of the BrahMos missile by India.
A few other countries including Argentina have also shown interest in procuring BrahMos missiles from India.
BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd, an India-Russian joint venture, produces the supersonic cruise missiles that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or land platforms.
BrahMos missile flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach or almost three times the speed of sound.
India has been looking at further expanding defence ties with the Philippines against the backdrop of growing global concerns over China's increasing military assertiveness in the South China Sea.
Both India and the Philippines have been emphasising the need for peaceful settlement of disputes in the South China Sea and for adherence to international law, especially the UNCLOS (UN Convention on the Law of the Sea).
The twin sides are also favouring implementation of an arbitral award by a UN court on the South China Sea.
The UN's Permanent Court of Arbitration, adjudicating the Philippines' case against China's territorial claims in the South China Sea, ruled in favour of Manila. However, China refused to accept the verdict.
There have been growing global concerns over China's sweeping claims of sovereignty over all of the South China Sea, a huge source of hydrocarbons.
Several countries in the region including Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei, have counterclaims.
As part of efforts to boost military ties with the Philippines, India has decided to post a defence attache to that country along with Ethiopia, Mozambique, Poland and Ivory Coast.
Watch | #BrahMos supersonic cruise Missiles delivered to the Philippines by India today
— The Times Of India (@timesofindia) April 19, 2024
The two countries had signed a deal worth USD 375 million in 2022 pic.twitter.com/Fx6aaGMk2n
