Cancel Delhi trip, focus on floods: H K Patil tells BSY

Alleging that administrations of districts affected by floods due to the swollen Krishna river were not ready to tackle the crisis, Congress leader H K Patil urged Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to cancel his visit to Delhi, scheduled on Monday.

The letter, ahead of the announcement by Yediyurappa to conduct an aerial survey of flood-affected regions, criticised the delay by district administrations in responding to the crisis and demanded him to chair the meeting of the Karnataka Disaster Management Authority.

"Considering the grave nature of the floods, call off your visit to Delhi and inspect flood-affected regions. You should also exhort the Prime Minister to visit these regions suffering a crisis," the former minister wrote.

Responding to the letter, Yediyurappa said he would conduct an aerial survey of flood-affected districts from Monday morning. "During my visit to Delhi, I will draw the attention of the Central government to the floods and seek relief," he said.

District administrations of the flood-hit districts were compiling information on damages suffered and were well-equipped to provide all the required assistance, Yediyurappa said in his letter.

Earlier in the day, Congress leader M B Patil attacked the State government for the delay in responding to the flood situation and demanded him to rush to the rescue of the flood-affected population.

Five districts of North Karnataka are facing floods due to the overflowing Krishna river. The river is receiving high inflows due to heavy showers in its catchment areas in Maharastra and parts of Northern Karnataka.