The Hindu 12.07.2009
Rain-related damage in Udupi put at Rs. 29 cr.
Staff Correspondent
| Home Minister Acharya directs officials to take up repair of roads in the district on priority |
64 villages in the district have been affected
by the monsoon
Two NDRF teams have been requisitioned to help tackle emergencies
GEARING UP: Members of the National Disaster Response Force unit who arrived in Udupi on Saturday conducting a drill at Kalmady near Malpe.
Uudpi: Home Minister V.S. Acharya said on Saturday that the damage to life and property owing to rainfall in Udupi district had been estimated at Rs. 29 crore.
Addressing presspersons after a meeting with district-level officials here Dr. Acharya said that lightning had killed two persons and two others were drowned in floods in the last 10 days. Sea erosion had been reported from places such as Udyavara and Padukere villages. As many as 64 villages had been affected. The Udyavara-Padukere concrete road had been damaged, he said.
Various department in the district suffered losses owing to the rainfall. The Public Works Department suffered a loss worth Rs. 11.19 crore followed by Udupi City Municipal Council Rs. 2.89 crore; Kundapur Town Municipal Council Rs. 1.05 crore, Kundapur Panchayat Raj Rs. 2 crore; Zilla Panchayat Engineering Department Rs. 8.15 crore; Mescom Rs. 59 lakh; agriculture Rs. 27 lakh; minor irrigation Rs. 89 lakh; revenue Rs. 57 lakh; National Highways Authority Rs. 50 lakh; abd Karkala Town Municipal Council Rs. 51.5 lakh.
Roads in the district had been seriously damaged owing to monsoon, he said and added that the authorities concerned had been told to take up immediate steps to repair the roads and not wait till September for the monsoon to end as was normally being done. The Government would be urged to provide Rs. 10 crore for repair of roads, Dr. Acharya said.
An 89-member unit of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) had arrived in the district to help the administration in tackling any emergency arising out of heavy rainfall. The State Government had requested the Prime Minister’s Office to station two units of the NDRF permanently in the State, one each at Udupi and Honnavar in Uttara Kannada district, to deal with exigencies, he said.
The district administration had been asked to provide a permanent building to store equipment such as boats and ropes to take up rescue operations in case of emergencies, he said.
In response to a question, Dr. Acharya said that the people from 10 districts and the neighbouring State of Kerala were involved in a pitched battle with the police a few days ago in Mysore. It was a wilful violation of prohibitory orders that had been clamped there to precipitate the situation. A daily report on the situation in Mysore was being sent to the Union Government, he said.
MLAs Lalaji Mendon and Raghupati Bhat, in-charge Deputy Commissioner Prasanna Kumar and Superintendent of Police Pravin Pawar were present.
Dr. Acharya handed over a compensation cheque to the parents of Rajashri (24), who had drowned in a rivulet at Manipura village. Later, he visited flood-affected areas here.
Two houses damaged
Two houses were partially damaged owing to rains in Udupi district on Saturday.
According to Kundapur taluk office, a house was partially damaged at Shedimane village and the loss was estimated at Rs. 5,000. The Karkala taluk office sources stated that a house was partially damaged at Kantawar village and the loss had been put at Rs. 3,500.
Rainfall
Rainfall in the district has receded significantly. The district received an average rainfall of 30.46 mm. The rainfall in the three taluks was: Udupi – 56.8 mm; Kundapur 9.2 mm; and Karkala – 25.4 mm.