Revenue Minister R. Ashok on Friday said funds were no constraint to take up relief works related to rain havoc in the State and the government has kept adequate funds with respective district administrations. The government has been preparing to face the disasters since a month, he said.
Speaking to reporters after visiting Padubidri beach in Udupi district that has been witnessing massive sea erosion on Friday along with Muzrai Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary and Deputy Commissioner G. Jagadisha, he said the government will facilitate construction of a sea wall at Padubidri.
Mr. Ashok said he was bewildered by the scale of erosion at the beach, which was declared a Blue Flag Beach to promote tourism. He felt that the tourism infrastructure did not augur well with the natural surroundings of the area and need to be removed.
“I will speak to Tourism Minister C.T. Ravi in this regard and arrange construction of the sea wall. There is no constraint for funds as ₹300 crore is available from the central natural disaster relief funds. Let the district administration send a proposal. I will approve it immediately,” the Minister said.
Well prepared
The government, Mr. Ashok said, has prepared well to tackle the rain-related furry unlike last year when it had just come to power. The previous government had not made any preparations, he said adding he had held a number of meetings since a month to prepare for the monsoon. The focus was on 10 districts that were prone to rain-related havocs. “I have asked all district in-charge Ministers concerned to be stationed at their districts to monitor relief operations.”
Reacting to a statement that Udupi in-charge and Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai was just holding video conferences and not visiting the district, Mr. Ashok said the former was more active than him. Mr. Bommai would also visit the district and monitor operations, Mr. Ashok said.
The government has released ₹20 crore to the Fire and Emergency Services department to procure equipment. A sum of ₹5 crore was available with the Udupi district administration for relief operations. There was no funds constraint, Mr. Ashok said. He would be touring the coastal districts on Friday and Saturday to monitor relief operations, he added.
