‘Union government will be urged to despatch a team to study the plight of the affected people’
The State government has decided to seek an assistance of Rs. 426 crore from the Union government for taking up relief operations in the rain-affected districts.
Disclosing this during an interaction with mediapersons here on Thursday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the government would also appeal to the Union government to despatch a team to study the plight of the affected people and to assess the extent of damage.
Several northern districts, including Raichur, Gulbarga, Yadgir, Gadag, Bijapur and Bagalkot, have been affected by heavy rains.
He said the assessment by the State government had estimated the losses at Rs. 426 crore and the State wanted the Centre to compensate the entire losses. While the deputy commissioners of these districts had Rs. 80 crore, the government recently provided them Rs. 50 crore, he said.
To a query, he said the government would consider taking an all-party delegation to Delhi to seek Central assistance for rain-relief works if there was a need.
Political battle
The rain-relief works have paved the way for a political battle as the Opposition BJP has accused the government of failing to properly respond to the plight of the victims. The BJP has despatched its own team of senior leaders to the rain-hit areas to assess the situation.
(The Hindu)
