The Chamarajanagar district in-charge minister V. Somanna directed the officials to clear lake and storm-water drain encroachments on a war footing to facilitate the free flow of water.
Reviewing the recent floods in Chamarajanagar district on Saturday, the minister said there has been unprecedented rains wreaking havoc on property and agricultural crops and bulk of the local floodings has taken place due to encroachment of the storm-water drains or rajakaluves. This entails repair of the canals or the drainage system and clearing the encroachments and the exercise should commence from ‘’tomorrow itself’’, said Mr. Somanna.
Directing the officials to constitute a task force and take the opinion and cooperation of local MLAs and elected representatives, the minister said the task force should also comprise Superintendent of Police and it should be overall in charge of lake development.
The repairs and clearing the encroachment should also entail removal of weeds and vegetation that was impeding the flow of water, Mr. Somanna added. The government will chip in with additional or necessary funds to take up the works and the irrigation department should not delay the works at any cost, said the minister. He also sought a comprehensive report on the extent of damage to bridges, roads, culverts etc. so as to take up the repair works and directed the officials to submit a rough estimate on a priority basis.
The officials were also directed to expedite the survey of the crop damage in the district and Mr. Somanna said that in case of people whose houses have been flooded, compensation should be promptly paid.
With respect to repair of school buildings, classrooms, anganwadi kendras etc., a grant of ₹7 crore would be released and some of the civic works including road repairs could be taken up under MGNREGA, according to Mr. Somanna. MLAs Mr. Puttarangashetty, R. Narendra, S. Mahesh, C.S. Niranjan Kumar, Deputy Commissioner Charulatha Somal, SP Mr. T.P. Shivakumar, ZP CEP K.M. Gayatri and others were also present.
