Briefing reporters after a high-level meeting with ministers and departmental heads to monitor the flood rehabitation work, Yeddyurappa said Rs 35,000 will be provided for rebuilding each “pacca” house damaged in the floods while Rs 10,000 will be provided for damaged “kaccha” houses.

“We plan to ensure that the affected families get their compensation amount before Deepavali,” the Chief Minister said.

The government will be building new houses in layouts wherein entire villages have to be relocated. As many as 226 villages have been identified for relocation. The State government has released Rs two crore for each of the affected district for formation of the new layouts, he said.

Yeddyurapa said the government has already released Rs 500 crore for relief and rehabilitation work. Another Rs 500 crore would be released this week. The Rs 1,000 crore promised by the Centre would be channelled for rehabilitation programmes as soon as it is allotted to the state, he said.

Nodal officers
The government is also in the process of appointing nodal officers to monitor the rehabilitation work in each of the affected district. The process of providing compensation for crop loss will take a little longer for assessment.

The government has fixed Rs 2,000 per hectare for dry land, Rs 4,000 per hectare for irrigated land and Rs 6,000 per hectare for garden crop.
However, irrespective of the land holding no farmer will be paid compensation for more than two hectares, Yeddyurappa said.

The government will ensure that there is no shortage of funds for the relief work.
“We are even ready to divert money meant for developmental projects for this purpose. Along with the relief operation, officials have to implement the 36-point programme unveiled recently for rural development and all schemes and programmes announced in the budget,” the Chief Minister added.

Meanwhile, the Centre has not yet released Rs 1,000 crore flood relief to the State as announced by Prime Minister Manmohan under the National Calamity Contingency Fund.
Officials said the government has decided not to wait for the Centre’s funds and commence distribution of monetary compensations using its own money.

Donations
After a lull of two days, donations came pouring in for the CM’s Relief Fund on Monday. Cisco has come forward to construct 4,000 houses and rebuild basic infrastructure at a cost of Rs 50 crore. Various cooperatives have pledged to donate Rs 15 crore, while Karnataka Milk Federation will contribute Rs 5 crore and Karnataka Forest Development Corporation Rs two crore.

No Rajyotsava awards this year
There will be no Rajyotsava awards this year, DHNS reports from Bangalore. The State government on Monday decided to keep Rajyotsava celebrations a low key affair in the wake of the floods.

Chief Minister Yeddyurappa told reporters that it would be unfair to celebrate Rajyotsava when lakhs of people have been rendered homeless in many districts. The government will present awards of the year 2009 next year along with list of awardees of the year 2010.

The Chief Minister said that the government had consulted people from various walks of life before making the announcement. Every year, the government honours achievers from different fields with the Rajyotsava Awards. The award carries Rs 1 lakh in cash. For the first time, the state government is cancelling presentation of the awards. Last year, the government honoured 92 people with the award.

Yeddyurappa has also called on the people to keep Deepavali celebrations low-key. He also requested them to donate the money they would have spent on crackers, to the CM’s relief fund.