‘Permanent building for relief centre in Kodagu’

Revenue Minister R Ashoka stated that a grant of Rs 10 crore would be released by the state government towards a permanent building for relief centre in Kodagu.

Symbolically handing over the houses to flood victims in Jambur in Somwarpet on Thursday, the minister said that when the building was vacant, it would be used for government meetings.

He further said that an official order had been issued by the government facilitating the land owners to convert their land. However, there is no scope for building houses in sensitive areas and on river banks.

“Four NDRF teams have arrived in Karnataka and will be stationed in Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada, Belagavi and Dharwad districts till the end of monsoon,” Ashoka said.

He said that Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa would complete the reamining three years of his tenure and there was no doubt about it. The government is stable, he added. His response came in the wake of the recent statements made by Congress leader Siddaramaiah.

“The CM has been handling the Covid-19 situation well”, Ashoka added. He added that the Centre had granted Rs 1,039 crore for disaster management in Karnataka this year and Rs 395 has already been released.

District In-charge Minister V Somanna said that 463 houses had been handed over to the beneficiaries on Thursday. Earlier, 35 houses were provided to the flood victims in Karnangeri. As many as 250 houses are being built by Infosys Foundation. Rest of the houses will be handed over soon, he added.

Somanna also read out the message by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa. In his message, Yediyurappa stated that the government had carried out all possible measures to provide relief to the flood victims of Kodagu. The CM stated that he could not attend the programme due to other commitments.

MP Prathap Simha, MLA K G Bopaiah, MLA Appachu Ranjan, MLC Sunil Subramani, MLC Veena Acchaiah, Kodagu Zilla Panchayat President B A Harish, Department of Housing Secretary Manoj Kumar Meena, Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation Managing Director Dr V Ramprasad Manohar, Kodagu Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy, Superintendent of Police Suman D Pennekar and Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer K Lakshmipriya were present.

JD(S) members protest

Around 60 members of JD(S) staged a protest in Jambur against the government for not inviting former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy to the programme.

Conducting a protest meet in the leadership of JD(S) district president K M B Ganesh, the protesters said that it was Kumaraswamy who had initiated the rehabilitation project by releasing grants during the Congress-JD(S) coalition government.

But the present BJP-led state government has forgotten all courtesy, they said and shouted slogans against the government. The police took the protesters into custody.