Karnataka floods: Modi speaks to chief minister, assures help

INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (23) spoke to Basavaraj Bommai, the chief minister of the southern Indian state of Karnataka, to take stock of the flood situation there caused by heavy rain.

Bommai, who belongs to Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), told the prime minister about the relief and rescue measures that are being taken by his government.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi today called Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to take stock of the situation due to heavy rains and floods in Karnataka. Chief Minister updated the relief and rescue measures taken by the government,” the chief minister’s office said in a tweet.

Modi expressed deep concern over the loss of crops and lives due to the floods and assured Bommai of the central government’s cooperation and assistance.

Earlier, Bommai announced that a sum of rupees five lakh (£5,023) would be paid as compensation for houses that have been completely damaged and rupees three lakh (3,014) for those that have been partially damaged – in three instalments.

The district administrators have been asked to disburse the first instalment of rupees one lakh (£1,004) immediately.

The chief minister also said that the state government has released rupees 500 crore (£50 million) for the repair of damaged roads and bridges. Schools and social help centres have also been damaged and their repair work would be taken up through the National Disaster Response Force fund.

Heavy rain has caused extensive damage to districts such as Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Tumakuru, Kolar, Ramnagar, Chikkaballapur and Hassan districts.

In Bengaluru, the state capital and India's information technology capital, heavy rain has left many areas inundated, caused power cuts and damage to property.

Karnataka and many other southern states have been experiencing relentless rainfall in November and the Indian Meteorological Department on Sunday (21) predicted light-to-moderate rainfall in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in the next five days, Asian News International reported.