Raksha Mantri Nirmala Sitharaman announces 7 Cr for flood affected Kodagu district

Kodagu, August 27: For all its contribution to the country’s defense, it is time for Kodagu to get something back from the sector. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who visited Kodagu on Friday announced that Rs 7 crore from the CSR fund of the Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) would be released to the district for flood relief works.

 

As a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, Nirmala Sitharaman said that she would also provide Rs 1 crore to Kodagu from her MP Local Area Development Fund. The minister inspected the damage caused by floods and landslides in the district. Visiting rain-affected areas in Kushalnagar and Madapura, she headed to relief centers where she interacted with children and grown-ups alike who shared their pain with her.

Nirmala Sitharaman confirmed that a damage assessment team of the Union Government would visit the district and submit a comprehensive report, after which relief funds would be released by the Centre. “The state government will also submit a report. But this team will work separately. It will be ready to take inputs from the people of Kodagu too,” she said.

She promised to take part in a meeting with Union Home Minister and Road Transport Minister to present a firsthand report of the devastation caused in the district. “I will report what I have seen to the Prime Minister,” she said.

At a press conference later, she said that the defense ministry was in constant touch with Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy from August 15 and assigned two sub-columns of the Army for rescue works in Mukkodlu and Kaluru in Kodagu. She appreciated the efforts of the Army in constructing two temporary bridges at Mukkodlu and Kaalur.

Taking note of the hardship faced by students in flood-hit Kodagu district, Karnataka Lokayukta Justice P Vishwanatha Shetty has directed the Education Department to rehabilitate them in appropriate educational institutions and hostels to enable them to pursue their education.

The death toll in the recent flood havoc has increased to 17 with NDRF (Mangaluru) team retrieving a body from the ruins of a landslide at Jodupala. State police department will contribute B5.8 crore by donating their one day salary, said DGP Neelamani Raju who visited Kodagu district.