HAVERI: Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said all 25 villages that were marooned due to flooding of the Varada river in the district will be relocated to safer places as per the wishes of people.
He told reporters after visiting flood-hit villages here on Saturday that the deputy commissioner has been asked to hold a survey to relocate these villages and submit a detailed report at the earliest. However, `5 lakh has been given to owners of completely collapsed houses in other flood-hit villages. But, `10,000 has been paid to each flood-hit family, he added.
On Central aid for relief and rehabilitation works, the CM said the state suffered a loss of `32,000 crore due to the recent floods.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a positive assurance and the Central team, which visited the state, will apprise the Centre about the losses, he said. Yediyurappa was accompanied by Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Revenue Minister R Ashoka, MLAs CM Udasi, Nehru Olekar and Virupakshappa Ballari, Deputy Commissioner Krishna Bajpai and other top district officials.
Later, chairing a meeting in Haveri, the Chief Minister promised that an additional `20 crore will be released to the district to take up relief and rehabilitation works in flood-hit areas.
He directed the officials to accord priority to bring life in the flood-hit villages back to normalcy by providing assistance. Till normalcy returns, other development works should be stopped.
Directing the officials to assess losses of standing crops, Yediyurappa said the state government will provide compensation to all farmers after getting a detailed crop loss report, which is going on in flood-affected districts. Under no circumstance, the farming community will be allowed to suffer with such rain and flood, he added.
Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said crops in 1,23,065 hectares had been damaged in the district and the estimated loss is Rs 750.92 crore. As many as 15,387 houses were damaged due to rain and floods and hence, the government should release more funds to the district, he urged.