With no help yet from Centre, fund crunch mars flood relief

BENGALURU: While flood-ravaged Karnataka desperately awaits funds from the Union government, the state has released Rs 413 crore — just about 1% of the purported total loss as estimated by the state government. The state, in its first memorandum seeking relief submitted to the Centre, pegged the total loss at Rs 38,450 crore.
At the height of the havoc wreaked by rain and floods in the state last month, chief minister BS Yediyurappa, who toured some of the 22 flood-hit districts, promised each family would get Rs 5 lakh to rebuild houses that collapsed or were washed away.He also announced instant monetary compensation of Rs 10,000 for each household. The government estimates nearly 2.5 lakh houses were destroyed.
“So far the government has distributed Rs 10,000 each to 35% of affected households,” sources in the revenue department said. Going by estimates, the government will have to mobilise Rs 12,500 crore to provide relief for 2.5 lakh families who lost their houses.
In the absence of central aid, the state government is using Rs 338 crore from the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF), an annual grant from the Centre, to mitigate drought and other natural calamities and another Rs 75 crore from the state exchequer.
Revenue minister R Ashoka said the government is committed to granting Rs 5 lakh compensation and it will do it, come what may. “We are still in the process of identifying beneficiaries and it will take some more time to disburse compensation,” Ashoka said.
However, some experts in the reconstruction industry said central assistance is likely to be woefully inadequate as it is unlikely to release funds to the tune projected by the state in its memorandum. They say rebuilding cannot happen without the generous contribution from the state exchequer.
For instance, the Centre may grant Rs 95,000 per household for reconstruction of houses. This means, the state government will have to mobilize the remaining Rs 4 lakh. Moreover, the Centre may not consider compensation for all 2.4 lakh households as it will go strictly by the rules.
The situation, however, has played nicely into the hands of opposition as it now has a stick with which to flog the government. “It has been more than 45 days since Karnataka was hit by floods,” said Siddaramaiah, former chief minister and Congress Legislature Party leader. “The state government could not get a single rupee from the Centre. The state has sent 25 BJP leaders to the Lok Sabha, but none of them has dared to demand funds. Yediyurappa is the weakest chief minister the state has ever seen.”
Rs 1 lakh as interim relief
Upset over the delay in securing funds from the Centre, the state government is planning to soon disburse Rs 1 lakh for those who have lost their houses in the floods. “We are finding it difficult to mobilise required resources without central assistance, but we are looking at ways to alleviate the suffering of affected people,” said a senior official. The public works department on Friday also released Rs 500 crore, which will be used to repair damaged roads.