BELAGAVI: Though the district administration had estimated the loss due to the recent floods in Belagavi district to be Rs 10,000 crore, the state government has so far released only Rs 167 crore, Deputy Commissioner S B Bommanahalli has said. During a meeting chaired by Revenue Minister Jagadish Shettar here on Friday, the DC said that crops sown on 2.77 lakh hectares of land in the district were totally damaged.
The total agriculture land used for sowing crops in Belagavi district this season was 6.66 lakh hectares. Due to the release of large quantity of water from various dams and reservoirs in Maharashtra into the Krishna river, 377 villages in Belagavi district got marooned in August first and second weeks.
Also, 5.20 lakh cusecs of water was released from Maharashtra in August that resulted in the flooding of all water sources along the border, including the Krishna river, Almatti, Hippargi and Malaprabha dam. According to him, 4.15 lakh people were evacuated from the flood-hit areas and were temporarily rehabilitated in 493 gruel centres.
He said the government handed over Rs 5 lakh compensation to the families of 25 of the 28 persons who died in the recent floods, while Rs 10,000 immediate compensation was given to each of the 1.12 lakh families affected by the floods in Belagavi district so far.
“On completion of the survey, it came to light that 69,183 houses were damaged and a detailed report on it has been posted on Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation website,’’ he said, adding that the release of compensation to the people affected due to house collapse would begin within a week. Meanwhile, several farmers’ organisations and political parties have been staging protests in Belagavi demanding compensation to the flood-affected people. A protest was staged by farmers’ organisations in Chikkodi on Thursday.