BENGALURU: The six-member Central team that arrived from New Delhi surveyed the flood-ravaged districts on Tuesday — Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru, Belagavi, Dharwad, Gadag and Bagalkot — to assess the loss and fix compensation. While the State government has demanded Rs 8,000 crore and is insisting that the Centre should make good this amount, experts said the State may not receive more than one-tenth of what is demanded. One senior officer said that Karnataka is likely to receive only around Rs 600 crore under the National Disaster Response Fund.
The team of six senior officials split up into three teams and surveyed the damage in the six districts. Two separate high-ranking sources in the government, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and Revenue Minister R Ashoka have pegged the damage at `8,000 crore — around Rs 5,500 crore in crop loss and Rs2,500 in infrastructure loss. Ashoka told TNIE that this is the loss due to rain and floods, as assessed by the State government.
However, the sources, speaking independently of each other, said that though the State government has claimed Rs 8,000 crore, it is likely to get Rs 600 to Rs 800 crore. They explained that there are fixed yardsticks under the NDRF and SDRF norms relating to assessment of damage, and officials cannot exceed them.It may be recalled that the team is in Karnataka in response to the disaster management funds the State has sought from the Centre. The team is due to return after a month.
The officials will hold a debriefing on Wednesday afternoon, before they leave. The Karnataka teams who have visited the areas have already made a note of extensive damage to crop and property and infrastructure in the affected districts.