From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Aug 11: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, who has been single-handedly managing the affairs of the State since July 26 after being sworn in following the collapse of the 14-month-long H D Kumaraswamy-led JD(S)-Congress coalition government, has demanded an urgent immediate Central assistance of Rs 3,000 crore to tackle the havoc caused by the fury of the unprecedented floods in over half the State due to heavy rains and heavy releases of water from neighbouring Maharashtra state.

Yediyurappa, who was scheduled to fly to coastal Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts on Sunday and Monday for an aerial survey and assessment of the situation, had cancelled his plans in view of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s decision to visit the State for an aerial survey.

The Chief Minister, who accompanied Shah during the aerial survey of Belagavi and other flood-ravaged districts of north Karnataka on Sunday, said the initial assessment of the State Government about the total loss and damages to public and private properties and roads and other infrastructure facilities by the floods was an estimated Rs 10,000 crore.

Shah and Yediyurapa inspected the flood affected regions of Karnataka and Maharashtra during their aerial survey. They started their aerial survey from the Belagavi and also Vijayapura districts besides Sangli and Kolhapur in Maharashtra.

“This is just an initial assessment. We will be able to get a clear picture and arrive at a final figure of the total extent of losses and damages only after the situation returned to normalcy after floods receded,’’ he told reporters in Belagavi.

The Chief Minister assured the affected people that the State Government was fully committed to providing relief and work for rehabilitation of the affected people. "There is no compromise on the issue. Protection of the people and assuring their safety is the first priority of the government,’’ he declared.

He sought to reassure the affected people that the State Government will spare no efforts in protecting interests of the farmers who lost their standing crops and people who lost their houses and belongings, including cattle and other livestock.

The Chief Minister expressed confidence that the Centre would decide on declaring the flood havoc in 16 out of the 30 districts of the State and the entire North Karnataka, Malnad and Coastal regions as a national disaster and provide suitable Central assistance.

Yediyurapa appealed to the public, NGOs and corporates to generously contribute their assistance in cash and kind to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund as was done in 2005 when the State faced a similar calamity. He appreciated the gesture of the State Government employees of assuring a contribution of Rs 200 crore from their salaries and appealed to the industries to contribute generously.

He promised to carry on with his aerial survey of five to six districts from tomorrow.

Cabinet expansion after August 15

Answering a question, Yediyurappa said the expansion of his Cabinet will take place after August 15 as the first priority of his government was working for the safety, welfare, rescue, relief and rehabilitation of the affected people.

The Chief Minister said that he will visit Delhi on August 16 to discuss the names of ministers for expansion of the cabinet.

Union Ministers Prahlad Joshi and Suresh Angadi as well as MLAs Umesh V Katti, Abhay Patil, Shashidar Yadavada and Rajya Sabha member Dr Prabhakar Kore were present during the media interaction.