PM Narendra Modi visited Kerala; he should also visit Kodagu: Ex-Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah

Image Courtesy: ANI

New Delhi: Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to pay a visit to Kodagu and take stock of the situation in the wake of recent floods in the state. "As PM it is his duty, he visited Kerala, I demand that he should also visit Kodagu," Siddamaraiah said.

On Saturday, PM Modi conducted an aerial survey of the flood-ravaged state where the calamity has so far claimed over 324 lives. The Prime Minister saluted the people of Kerala for their fighting spirit and assured the nation's support to the state. He announced Rs 500 crore as immediate aid for Kerala, in addition to the 100 crore announced earlier. He also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the next kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to those seriously injured, from Prime Minister’s National Relief Funds (PMNRF).

Earlier today, Siddaramaiah along with Pradesh Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao visited affected areas of the district and took stock of the situation.

With rains subsiding in the last couple of days, relief and rehabilitation work have gained momentum in Kodagu, where operations to rescue those stranded due to floods and landslides have by and large been completed, according to officials.

The administration was now focused on providing relief and rehabilitating those at the relief camps, clearing blocked roads and restoring electricity.

However, a total of 1,019 rescuers from various agencies are stationed in Kodagu and are screening villages along with NGOs and local community.

An amount of Rs 30 crore has been released to Kodagu by the state government to take up relief works, officials said, adding engineers and personnel from Madras Engineer Group are being deputed to Kodagu for road restoration and debris clearance.

Schools that were shut for over 20 days reopened today, with teachers conducting classes to students at relief camps across the district.

Fifty-one relief camps have been set up in Kodagu that are currently housing 6,996 people. According to officials, till last evening 4,450 were rescued and brought to safety. According to preliminary estimates, around 1,118 houses have been damaged. 

In Dakshina Kannada, another flood-hit district, five deaths have been reported and over 360 houses have been damaged, according to preliminary estimates. Rescue teams along with locals are making efforts to rescue animals stranded and affected due to the natural calamity.

Officials said a three-member team from NGRI (National Geophysical Research Institute) headed by Ragavan visited Kodagu and set up a seismic monitoring centre in Navodaya School to closely monitor seismic activity in and around the area.

Also, the three-member team comprising Dr Srinivasa Reddy, Director, Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre and Dr H M S Prakash (former DDG, GSI) are conducting geotechnical studies in landslide affected region of Mangaluru.

Noting that there is loss of certificates, documents and identity cards due to flooding, officials said the government will set up common service centres that will act as single-window system to issue duplicate these documents.

Documents will be issued free of cost or at a nominal cost as deemed appropriate, and there will be no need to file an FIR. 

(With inputs from PTI)