Flood relief: HDK says Centre releasing funds

Former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy has said that there was no dearth of funds for taking up flood relief measures in the state and it was the ministers who lack the vision to go ahead.

Speaking to reporters here on Monday, Kumaraswamy said that constructing house at Rs five lakh in the affected areas of Krishna basin was not a solution and instead the the government should focus on finding a permanent solution by rehabilitating the affected families to safer locations.

He claimed that majority of the affected people in North Karnataka have not received the first installment of compensation to rebuild their houses.

“Neither do I have soft corner for the BJP nor am I afraid of the investigation by Central agencies investigations into the IMA scam or phone- tapping issue. Flood relief work is a tedious job, and as a former chief minister I can understand the practical problems of addressing this natural calamity,” he said.

Kumaraswamy also went soft on Union government over release of funds for floods mitigation. He said that in a federal structure each state is allotted certain amount for five years to manage natural disasters. “The Union government has been allotting proportional funds (Rs 1,200 crore) to the state government. However, it is the state government, which is not utilising its resources properly.”