BENGALURU: A day after the Union government released additional assistance to Karnataka towards flood relief, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but not before acknowledging that the funds released so far might not be sufficient. Yediyurappa, however, was quick to add that more funds are expected to come in, in instalments.
“They (Union government) have started releasing funds. What has been released so far won’t suffice, of course, but they will release more funds in instalments. I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for releasing such huge funds. First, they released Rs 1,200 crore and now Rs 1,869 crore. Funds were released soon after his visit to Karnataka,” said Yediyurappa, responding to a question on whether the total funds of Rs 3,070 crore released by the Centre would suffice for flood relief work. The high-level committee, chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah, on Monday had approved additional central assistance to seven states marred by cloudburst, floods and landslides during the Southwest monsoon, 2019.
Even as the state BJP leadership hailed the Centre for releasing more funds to Karnataka, the Congress pointed out that the funds were barely enough for relief and rehabilitation work in districts affected by floods.
“Reports from state govt officials tells that only Rs 669 cr of addl funds are released in 2nd installment as opposed to the claim of Rs 1,870 cr by @BJP4Karnataka leaders. At a time when manufacturing industries are closing, BJP’s fake news factory is running at full potential!! (SIC)” tweeted Siddaramaiah, leader of the Opposition. He pointed out that estimated damages due to floods were pegged at `38,000 crore by the government, and the funds released by the Centre are minuscule.