Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai asks districts to remain alert as more rains likely

Bommai said all the district administrations had been asked to be ready for rescue operations

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said Monday that he has asked districts to remain alert as Karnataka is expected to receive rains for four more days.

“There are indications that it will rain for four days,” Bommai told reporters after going around Kolar to assess rain-related damages.

He said all the district administrations had been asked to be ready for rescue operations. This time, the rains have coincided with the harvest time and farmers across the state have suffered massive crop loss, he pointed out.

Unseasonal heavy rains have damaged an estimated 5 lakh hectares of crops, besides over 2,000 km of roads and hundreds of infrastructure installations.

Read | Bommai announces compensation for rain-related damages

While usually the crop loss survey takes time, officials have been asked to upload the data immediately on the Parihara app. “We want to give compensation to farmers within 24 hours of the data being uploaded," Bommai said.

District administrations have also been directed to take up GPS surveys and identify damaged houses. The government will release funds as soon as possible for repair works of these houses, he added.

When it comes to infrastructure such as roads, bridges and culverts, Rs 500 crore has been released for repair works. Arterial roads where transportation has been cut off will be prioritised. Officials have been asked to prepare a detailed project report for the rest of the repair works, too, he said.

EC brake?

Bommai revealed that the Election Commission has allowed only him and ministers of the departments concerned to visit rain-hit districts. Ministers in charge of districts cannot visit rain-hit places. This is under the model code of conduct that is in place for the Legislative Council elections.

While there has been criticism from the opposition parties that the BJP is busy with its Janswaraj Yatra and district in-charge ministers are missing in action, Bommai said the Election Commission had asked the government to strictly follow the code of conduct.

“According to the Election Commission, the Chief Minister can travel and the ministers of the respective departments can tour the rain-hit places, but not the district in-charge ministers,” Bommai said. "We will seek further clarification from the Commission.”

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