JOIN USDeclare H D Kote taluk as flood hit: Former minister Shivanna
On the backdrop of heavy rainfall in H D Kote taluk for the last two months, former minister M Shivanna urged the government to declare it as flood hit district.
At a press meet here on Monday, he demanded compensation for the crop loss incurred by the farmers due to the unexpected rainfall. He said, the taluk had 484 mm rainfall in 2010-11, 452 mm in 2011-12. However, it witnessed 658 mm rainfall in just two months.
Kandalike, N Begur, Antharasanthe, Kasaba Hobli had uninterrupted rainfall which had destroyed the crops. “Farmers are facing difficulty in taking up agricultural activities,” he added.
He urged the government to immediately send a team comprising of Revenue, Agriculture and Horticulture officers to the district to inspect the region. “Revenue minister should also inspect the spot and respond to the problems,” he added.
Shivanna pointed out that cotton crop grown on a total of 31,000 hectares of land was destroyed due to flooding. The crop used to yield Rs 25,000 per acre, but now crop worth crores of rupees was ruined. The taluk also had tobacco on 4,669 hectare of land, aside from that of coconut, black gram, sesame and others. Farmers’ investments had gone in vain. “The government should take appropriate measures before farmers taking up to suicide,” he added.
He said, a farmer would invest Rs 10,000 to grow cotton in an acre, but would receive only Rs 1,300 as compensation in natural disaster.
“The government should create awareness among farmers regarding crop insurance and also asses the loss completely to reimburse the same,” he added.
He mentioned that Manandawadi Road, Hunsur-Begur Road, H D Kote-Kutta Road, Saragur-Baragi Road, Dammanakatti-Bavali Road, Beechanahalli-Begur Road and Bavara-Koratagere Road required immediate attention to avert any untowards.
He alleged that an Andra Pradesh based contractor had procured tender for Hunsur-H D Kote Road (stretch of 20 km) for Rs 33.90 crore. However, he worsened the situation of the roads. The works were supposed to be completed by December, according to the contract. But even 10 per cent of the works had not been completed.
He urged cancellation of license of the contractor aside from blacklisting the company. “Dr H C Mahadevapp, Minister for Public Works should inspect the roads and initiate works, “ he urged.