BBMP still waiting for ₹1,170 cr flood relief

BBMP still waiting for ₹1,170 cr flood relief
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Despite earmarking ₹8,409 crore for the ‘comprehensive development’ of Bengaluru in the state Budget, the Karnataka government is yet to fulfil a request for a ₹1,170 crore grant for damages caused by last year’s rain-induced floods, a senior Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) official said on Thursday.

“We had asked the state government for ₹1,170 crores for flood relief,” said one senior official of the civic body, requesting anonymity.

Instead, the government earmarked ₹1,500 crores to develop a mega stormwater drain to cater to heavy rains to prevent floods by developing the Rajakaluve in Bengaluru.

The unseasonal rains in October and November last year were particularly severe in Bengaluru, Karnataka’s largest city that houses at least 12 million residents. Bengaluru Urban received 329% more rains in November and 132% over actual estimates in October, according to Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority data.

There were 249% more rains across Karnataka in these two months, which was the highest in the last six decades, destroying nearly a million hectares of crops, homes and livelihoods.

At least 42 people and several hundred animals were dead due to the rains, and the state government had sought ₹1,281 crores assistance from the Union government in the first week of December 2021 for the damages it incurred.

Around 19,366 kms of public roads and 20,083 homes were also damaged, according to the state government.

Manoj Rajan, the commissioner of the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), said that the compensation for such calamities are paid under ‘norms of assistance’, in which the Centre has given calculations on costs per km of roads to homes damaged.

“In the BBMP area, water flooded into the houses. We gave ₹10000 as relief for the damages,” he said.

In 2021, Karnataka received over ₹1,000 crores from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF), which, Rajan said, was the highest in the country.

“We are the only state who got ₹1000 crore this year from NDRF, and we got ₹1054 in SDRF (state disaster relief fund). Over and above this, if there is an extreme event like November, August (last year), a central team will come, assess and then give (releases money). In that Karnataka got the highest, we got ₹1000 crores,” he added.

Successive governments in Karnataka have continued to infuse money into Bengaluru to develop infrastructure like roads, rejuvenate lakes and parks, among other amenities in a city that is known the world over for its civic apathy just as much as its prowess in technology and startups among other sectors.

“The Amruth Nagaroththana scheme will be implemented at an expenditure of Rs.6000 crore in the next three years to provide infrastructure facilities in Bengaluru city. Road development, grade separator, lake development, major stormwater drain development, development of parks, buildings, solid waste management, street lights, slum area development etc., will be taken up under this scheme in limits of BBMP,” chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said in his budget.

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