Central team to visit flood ravaged state

Bengaluru: Karnataka Revenue Minister R Ashoka on Thursday said a six-member central team will be visiting the flood ravaged parts of the state on September 7, and the government will submit a memorandum seeking about Rs 4,800 crore relief.

"We had requested the Centre to send a team to assess the damages here and release the amount. Accordingly a central team headed by Ministry of Home Affairs, Joint Secretary, K V Pratap will be visiting on September 7," he said.

Speaking to reporters here, the minister said the team will be holding discussions with Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, on September 8 they will be visiting the flood- hit districts.

On September 9, they will hold talks with me and the Revenue Department Principal Secretary, during which the memorandum would be submitted, he said.

Following our request, the Centre has already released Rs 395 crore under second installment of SDRF and has also given 9 NDRF teams that have been deployed in the districts, he said, adding that the team is expected to visit Kodagu, Belagavi, Vijayapura and Bagalkote.

At least 12 districts have been affected by floods and rains since August 1, in which 20 people have lost their lives and over 4,400 people were displaced.

Over 7,000 houses and about 1.41 lakh hectares of crops have been damaged. To a question on the relief the state would be seeking, Ashoka said, "we will mention it in the memorandum.. about Rs 4,800 crore." Last month, Yediyurappa had conducted an aerial survey of affected regions.

Meanwhile, the coastal districts of Karnataka are likely to receive widespread rainfall from September 3 to 7, predicted CS Patil, Indian Meteorological Department Director, Bengaluru on Thursday.

"Monsoon is active over Karnataka. The coastal districts are very likely to receive widespread rain from September 3- 7. Bengaluru city is also very likely to experience rainfall and thundershowers during this period," he said. The MeT department has further predicted that heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, south Konkan and Goa, Madhya Maharashtra, Coastal and south interior Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal and Kerala and Mahe.

"Thunderstorm accompanied with lightning likely at isolated places over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Konkan and Goa, Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal, Kerala and Mahe and Karnataka," the IMD stated in its All India Weather Warning Bulletin.