Karnataka seeks Rs 1,281 crore as rain damage compensation from Centre; revises toll from 26 to 42

Karnataka on Thursday submitted a memorandum to the Centre seeking Rs 1,281 crore as relief for the damages sustained in the heavy rainfall that smashed the state in October and November.

The government’s latest assessment, which has been sent to the Centre, shows a huge rise in human deaths, crop losses and other damages from what was initially recorded.

At least 42 people died in floods and rain, according to the updated figures. This is up from 26 deaths that were reported initially. Crop losses have almost doubled: from 5.81 lakh hectares to 9.90 lakh hectares now.

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The government said most of the rabi crops such as Bengal gram, cotton, jowar, maize and chilli were destroyed. “Long duration cloudy situation led to pest and disease to plantation crops like grapes, coffee, arecanut, pepper etc causing immense misery to farmers,” the government told the Centre in its memorandum, adding that crop loss due to flood is estimated at Rs 8,962.02 crore.

“The overall estimated damage of Rs 11,916.30 crore and as per SDRF norms stands at Rs 1281.92 crore,” the government said.

A whopping 19,366 km of public roads have taken a hit in the rain, according to government data. This includes state highways and major district roads (7,757 km), rural roads (9,820 km) and other urban roads (1,789 km).

Some 20,083 houses are damaged and this, along with crop losses, will form the bulk of the government’s post-flood relief expenditure.

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According to the memorandum, Karnataka received 307 mm rainfall as against a normal 166mm between October 1 and November 30, which is 85 per cent excess. Out of 31 districts, 23 recorded “excess to large excess rainfall.”

There were two extreme events in October (one during October 6-13 and another October 21-25) that led to excess rainfall in the range of 110-123 per cent.

Then in November, two successive depressions over the Bay of Bengal and a trough in the Arabian Sea caused unprecedented rainfall. “The state received widespread heavy rainfall and recorded 592 per cent more than normal, which is the second-highest in the last 60 years,” the government said.

The government is now waiting for an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) to visit the state to take stock of the damages. “We’ve asked all deputy commissioners to collect photo evidence and drone videos. We’re also collecting data on rainfall surges and satellite maps,” Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority commissioner Manoj Rajan said.

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