Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly N Dharam Singh on Thursday said the State had failed to utilise Rs 800 crore sanctioned by the Centre for calamity relief.

Addressing a press conference in Bangalore, Mr Singh hit out at Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa for blaming the Centre for not releasing funds for flood relief works.

The Centre had released Rs 1,075 crore to the State, but the Government has spent only Rs 276 crore so far. The coalition government partners were gripped by power transfer issue and had neglected the woes of people in rain-affected districts of North Karnataka, he charged. He also urged Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil to send a central minister immediately to visit the rain-affected districts.