BENGALURU: Forest fires have reduced 35,891 acres to cinders in Karnataka in the past five years, and the year 2019 has taken the lead with the blaze in Bandipur National Park razing 15,000 acres.
The Zilla Panchayat meeting decided to take a delegation led by Assembly Speaker K G Bopaiah, District-In-Charge Minister and Kodagu MLAs to Chief Minister, to exert pressure on the government to approve 12 crore action plan for the drinking water project and release the fund for the project.
The State government has agreed to release Rs 12 crore for implementation of drinking water programmes in Kodagu district through Zilla Panchayat, said Deputy Speaker K G Bopaiah.
The district administration has put the rain loss at Rs 74 crore till September end in 2009-10. A total of nine people and 12 cattle have died so far. The process of assessing the rain loss in the past one week is also in progress. The recent rains have put both agriculturists and horticulturists into trouble. Government buildings, bridges, culverts and drainages have also been damaged.
''Dumping of waste by Sullia TMC at Peraje on the border of Kodagu district is not a correct move. The issue of waste disposal should be settled amicably by the Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu district administration and Sullia TMC,'' said Assembly Deputy Speaker K G Bopaiah.
As many as 802 houses have been sanctioned to the district under the Indira Awas scheme. Steps will be taken to distribute the benefits equally to all Gram Panchayats, said Zilla Panchayat President S N Rajarao.
'It is our responsibility to protect the bio-diversity and forest resources,' said Zilla Panchayat President S N Rajarao.
A sum of Rs 10.82 crore has been released for academic activities in the district for 2009-10 under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) scheme. A meeting of the SSA district implementation committee chaired by Zilla Panchayat President S N Rajarao here on Monday approved an action plan in this regard.
Though the incessant rains have receded in Kodagu on Sunday, several low-lying areas continued to be inundated. Assembly Deputy Speaker K G Bopaiah examining the damaged road following floods near Kopatti in Madikeri taluk on Sunday; Dh PhotosAs a precautionary measure, the district administration has extended holidays to anganwadis, schools and colleges on Monday (July 20) too.
At least 74 people died in rain-related incidents in Karnataka since June as the state received 391 mm of rainfall in the last one-and-half months against the normal average of 328 mm, Revenue Minister G Karunakara Reddy informed the assembly today.
Karnataka Bureau Bangalore: Incessant rain in coastal Malnad, south interior Karnataka and Belgaum over the past six days has claimed 12 lives, and the weather bureau has indicated that there will be no respite from the monsoon fury in these regions for the next two days.
