Rains claimed 133 lives, damaged 20,893 houses this year: Revenue Minister

A total of 133 lives have been lost due to heavy rain in Karnataka during the southwest and northeast monsoons, according to Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda.

Disclosing this while making a statement on Friday in the Legislative Assembly on the damage due to the rains this year, the Minister said while some people were washed away in rivers, some died due to lightning strikes and house collapse.

The government had provided a compensation of ₹5 lakh each to the family of the deceased, he said.

He pointed out that the State had received 20% more rainfall in pre-monsoon, and southwest and northeast monsoon seasons. As against the normal of 852 mm and 173 mm rainfall during southwest and northeast monsoons, the State had received 978 mm and 213 mm rainfall, respectively, he said.

But the distribution of rainfall was not uniform throughout the State, as there were some districts that had received below-average rainfall, he said.

Crop damage

The heavy rain had caused crop loss on 1.59 lakh hectares of land during the kharif season and on 1.45 lakh hectares during the rabi season, the Minister said. The government provided compensation of ₹94.94 crore toward crop loss during the kharif season and ₹112.17 crore for loss during the rabi season.

The heavy rain had also resulted in damage to 20,893 houses of which 3,012 were fully damaged, he said. The government had allocated a compensation of ₹297 crore towards house damage, he said.

The Deputy Commissioners still had ₹579 crore with them to provide compensation towards losses due to natural disasters, he said.

To avoid landslips

The Revenue Minister said the State government had identified 863 landslip-prone village panchayats in the State to take up work to permanently prevent landslips in the next two-and-a-half years.

These village panchayats were spread over the six districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Chikkamagaluru, Shivamogga, and Kodagu, he said. The Deputy Commissioners had sent a proposal for ₹425 crore to take up work.

The government had also allocated ₹184 crore for taking up rain-proofing works in urban areas. These works will include construction of even footbridges, he said.

Published - December 13, 2024 08:14 pm IST