BENGALURU: The opposition Congress on Saturday slammed the state government and district, in-charge ministers, for not taking adequate measures to help people hit by heavy rain and floods in the North Karnataka region.
“District in-charge Ministers have not visited flood-hit districts to help people, but are busy with the bypolls. The government must immediately rush to help those people,” said former chief minister and leader of opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah.
“The government did not take our suggestions on taking precautionary measures to prevent the floods seriously. Damage caused by floods in Kalayana Karnataka region is to the extent of Rs 10,000- Rs 15,000 crore,” he said, and accused the ministers of being busy in RR Nagar and Sira, but not helping those affected by floods. Voters in these constituencies will teach them a lesson in the elections, he added, hitting out at BJP MPs from Karnataka for not asking the Centre to come to the aid of flood-affected people.
AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala said that hundreds of people in North Karnataka have lost their houses, property and crops in the worst floods in the last 30 years. However, state or central ministers have not visited flood-hit areas, he said. He urged Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to visit these areas and take necessary measures to help people and also announce compensation to those who lost their houses and crops.
He urged the Centre to release funds to the state government to take up relief works. State Congress president D K Shivakumar requested the state government to immediately release Rs 1 crore each to taluks hit by floods to take up urgent works. The government must give Rs 5,000 compensation to families that lost foodgrains due to floods, he said and added that compensation for crop loss must be given within a week.