'People in flood-prone villages in Karnataka will be shifted to other places'

Bengaluru: Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Saturday said people living in flood prone villages will be shifted to nearby safer places as monsoon has set in with heavy rains in many parts of the state.

According to the state government, there are 1,710 flood prone villages in the state.

“We have given instructions to district authorities to take precautionary measures in view of possible floods.We have to ensure that no further damage happens in coming days and people in villages prone to floods are shifted to nearby high altitude places,” Yediyurappa told reporters after a meeting with officials of 20 districts, Karnataka Disaster Management Authority and Water Resource Department.

He said the monsoon has set in very early.

Everywhere all the water bodies are getting filled and sowing is happening on a large-scale in the state, he added.

Yediyurappa said district authorities have made adequate arrangements to mitigate floods and arrangements have been made for the deployment of National Disaster Response Force and helicopters, wherever needed.

Later, an official press release said that for the first time the State Flood Management Action Plan-2021 has been prepared.

According to the release, 1,710 villages have been identified as flood prone and gram panchayat level disaster management action plan has been developed and training imparted regarding its implementation.

Further, interstate coordination to facilitate information exchange on the flow of water to reservoirs required in order to manage flood situation has been established and task force, operational teams and WhatsApp groups have been created to manage the flood situation.

The government said the flood forecast cell has been established at the Karnataka state Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre and material required for rescue operations has been mobilised and provided.

Four NDRF teams have been deployed for rescue operations in Raichur, Kodagu, Belagavi and Dakshina Kannada districts.SDRF teams consisting of more than 200 personnel have been strengthened with necessary equipment for the rescue operations, the government said.

It added that around Rs.1,000 crore fund is available with the Deputy Commissioners in various districts for disaster management.Apart from protecting people and livestock, precautions should also be taken about COVID-19.