Flood relief: K'taka seeks President's intervention

Karnataka has urged President A P J Abdul Kalam to prevail upon the Centre to grant funds to the state to take up relief work in flood-hit and drought-affected areas.

Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy on Monday submitted a memorandum to the President, who was on a one-day visit to the state.

"The Centre has extended Rs 400 crore for Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh as flood relief. Despite approaching the Prime Minister on August 8 for a grant of Rs 500 crore, no action has been taken so far to release aid to Karnataka," Kumaraswamy said.

He pointed out that the Prime Minister had promised to depute a central team to assess the damage caused to property in Karnataka.

"Till date, the team has not arrived in Karnataka. The damage caused to property and crops by floods is estimated to be around Rs 1,406 crore. The state alone cannot handle the situation," the chief minister said.

Kumaraswamy noted that 18 districts experienced drought while another six districts had to suffer the wrath of floods.

"The state is also experiencing a 28 per cent deficit rainfall. This will aggravate the situation if relief work is not taken up immediately," he contended.