The Karnataka government on Monday said it has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide an additional special assistance of Rs 4,000 crore to handle the flood situation in the state, where the death toll has reached 14.
"As per the initial assessment, Rs 4,000 crore loss has occurred. It is a preliminary estimate because rains are continuing. A proper survey has to be done," Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said.
Speaking to reporters after attending the virtual meeting chaired by the PM with six states to review the flood situation in the country, he said Karnataka had suffered huge damage in the 2019 floods, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the current flood situation, the government has requested the Centre to provide additional special assistance of Rs 4,000 crore, other than NDRF norms, he said.
"We also requested the Prime Minister to kindly direct the immediate release of the next instalment of SDRF of Rs 395 crore to Karnataka to take up relief and rehabilitation measures," he said.
This was a preliminary submission and a detailed memorandum would be sent to the Centre in the days to come, he said.
Revenue Minister R Ashoka, along with Bommai, attended the video conference in the absence of Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, who had been undergoing treatment for COVID-19.
The Chief Minister has since been discharged.
At the meeting, the Prime Minister directed officials to look into providing both immediate and long-term relief to affected states, the ministers said.
Ashoka said the state government would utilise the funds available with it to manage the situation and provide relief to those affected until it received the central funds.
Meanwhile, several parts of Malnad, coastal and interior Karnataka have been ravaged by torrential rains, causing floods and landslides, affecting lives and property.
According to official data, at least 12 districts have been affected, in which 14 people have lost their lives so far since August 1, while five are missing.
A total of 87 relief camps have so far been opened across the state, sheltering 1,993 people. Twenty-seven animals have died so far.
Bommai said 56 taluks and 885 villages have been affected. "Preliminary assessment of damage is around 3,000 houses, 80,000 hectares of crops, 3500 km of roads... also damage to electrical infrastructure, transformers, buildings, bridges and minor irrigation tanks are there," he said.
While there has been some respite in rains in several parts of the state, including Kodagu and Hassan, rains have continued at places in Udupi, Chikkamagaluru and Uttara Kannada, sources said.
Though rains have reduced in several parts of north interior Karnataka, heavy inflow into river Krishna and its tributaries has resulted in flood-like situation in parts of Belagavi district and other areas, they said.
Similar is the situation with Tungabhadra river as it has submerged low-lying areas in parts of Ballari district, among others.
The Met Department forecast for the next 24 hours has said heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to occur at isolated places in coastal Karnataka and ghat areas of south interior Karnataka, while heavy rainfall is likely to occur at isolated places in north interior Karnataka.
The ministers said they gave details to the Prime Minister at the video conference about the measures taken by the state to provide relief to those affected.
They informed him that four NDRF teams and 200 trained SDRF men have been positioned in vulnerable areas and thanked the Centre for reserving four IAF helicopters and deploying the Army for search and rescue operations.
Bommai said the state also suggested to the PM, certain long-term measures like commissioning a special project to study and establish an Integrated Flood Forecasting and Response System for inter-state river basins like the Krishna Basin to mitigate flood damage.
"We also suggested a special project to study and establish Landslide Hazard Mapping and Development of Early Warning System for high vulnerable areas of the Western Ghats in Karnataka and its adjoining states," he said.
The Home Minister said they requested an additional four NDRF teams to be deployed in Karnataka.
The state also suggested a scheme to handle soil erosion along the western coast on the lines of the National Cyclone Relief Mitigation Project (NCRMP), he added