HUBBALLI: Karnataka has decided to ramp up its flood preparedness as the state disaster management authority (KSDMA) plans to rope in Panchayats to draw a management plan to mitigate the situation in case of early monsoons.
A pilot project online interaction programme was held in Athani village in Belagavi district for the same and a similar one will be conducted in Vijayapura, Koppal, Dharwad and Ballari in the coming weeks.
"The weathermen have predicted that the state may witness flood like situation in August month and the government is taking steps to ensure both corona and flood situations are handled well.
"This time due to coronavirus several buildings and community halls have been converted into quarantine units or fever clinics. This could pose a challenge to find suitable buildings to create rehabilitation centres. Hence we are planning to alert the GP level officials and members to ensure there are enough shelters for the flood affected," said an official from the Disaster Management Authority.
"NDRF teams from Andhra Pradesh have arrived in different parts of Karnataka. Last week there was a mock drill conducted by the NDRF team in Dharwad. Similar drills were organised in Kodagu, Raichur and Belagavi," the official added.
In 2019, Karnataka witnessed one of its worst floods due to heavy rains in neighbouring Maharashtra, resulting in release of large amounts of water from the dams.
The floods saw over 6 lakh people being evacuated and close to 60 people losing their lives.
Meanwhile, the victims of 2019 floods, who possess requisite documents for their apparent damages and losses, have been paid their compensations.
Officials pointed out that the local authorities at gram panchayat level are inquiring about the pending amount for those who haven't been compensated yet.