'People not coming forward to avail of relief benefits'

The flood-affected people are not coming forward to avail of rehabilitation facilities provided by the state government, according to Law and Parliamentary Minister J C Madhuswamy, reports DHNS from Tumakuru.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme here on Saturday, Madhuswamy said it had been estimated that 90,000 houses are required to accommodate people displaced by floods. "But only 9,000 applications have been received so far," he said.

Madhuswamy said that the government had made arrangements for flood victims to obtain houses on rent and had provided Rs 10,000 as ad hoc relief to each family. "People who play politics over drought lack sight of these measures," he said.

The minister said that the state government had already spent Rs 2,000 crore on flood relief. "Huge sum of money is required for compensating people who lost their plantations due to landslides. We were waiting for the Central aid for this purpose."