Karnataka floods: Yediyurappa meets PM, seeks 10,000 cr fund

New Delhi/Bengaluru, Aug 16 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday assured Karnataka Chief Minister of central aid to speed up relief works in its flood-hit districts, an official said.

"Modi assured state Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa of soon releasing central funds for relief works in the state at the earliest and rushing a central team to assess the damage caused by heavy rains and floods across the state," an official of the Chief Minister's office told IANS in Bengaluru.

Yediyurappa met Modi at the official residence of the Prime Minister in the national capital along with a delegation, comprising Union Ministers from the state, the ruling BJP leaders, including MLAs and MPs.

"During the 40-minute meeting, the chief minister briefed Modi on the extensive damage caused by the heavy monsoon rains and floods in the coastal, central, south and northwest regions of the state for over a fortnight," said the official.

Thanking the Prime Minister for his quick response to the state's appeal for more funds to mitigate the hardship being faced by the people in the affected regions, Yediyurappa told reporters that the central government would release initial funds at the earliest.'

"We have explained to Modi about the massive flood caused due to excess water released from southwest Maharashtra reservoirs, which were overflowing due to heavy rains in their catchment areas over a fortnight" Yediyurappa told reporters in New Delhi.

In a detailed report submitted to Modi, Yediyurappa said the state government has sought Rs 10,000 crore relief funds from the Centre to rebuild houses, buildings, roads, highways, schools, state-run hospitals that were damaged in the 22 of the state's 30 districts.

Catching the people and the newly-formed Bharatya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state-off guard, torrential rains and floods wreaked havoc, leaving behind a trail of devastation across the state.

Till Thursday, the death toll in the affected regions rose to 62, with 14 still missing.

"The natural calamity has led to the loss of 867 animals, evacuation of about 6.8-lakh people and shifting of 3.6 lakh people to 943 relief camps and rescuing 51,460 animals, including cattle and livestock," added the official.

According to preliminary survey, the fortnight-long monsoon mayhem has damaged 5.35-lakh hectares of farmlands, affecting food grain production and damaging 71,234 houses.