CM confident of getting more funds
Chief Minister Yeddyurappa will invite Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to witness the rehabilitation works in the flood affected districts of North Karnataka.
Chairing a meeting to prepare a proposal on infrastructure development in flood affected areas to be submitted to the Centre, he said he would extend the invitation while calling on the Prime Minister in New Delhi on November 5.
He expressed confidence that the PM would sanction additional grants especially for developing new layouts for families who lost their dwellings in the devastating floods. The state would also focus on providing new school buildings, community halls, and other infrastructure facilities in the new layouts.
The CM said as per the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF) norm there is no scope for utilising the grants for long term rehabilitation. The funds sanctioned need to be utilised within 45 days from the day of the natural calamity. However, the devastation caused by the floods required long term programmes to rebuild the infrastructure, he said.
For instance, the property damaged in the PWD touched Rs 1,810 crore, rural development Rs 1,242, crore minor irrigation Rs 550 crore among others. The state government had already released Rs 1200 crore for flood relief and rehabilitation of which Rs 900 crore has been spent, he said.
Finance Department Principal Secretary M R Srinivasa Murthy said the acquisition and purchase of land had been completed for all new layouts planned. The land had been purchased at rates ranging between Rs 1.5 lakh to 3 lakh per acre.
