Karnataka ministers told to visit flood- and drought-hit districts, submit report

Karnataka chief minister D.K. Shivakumar has assigned districts to ministers and directed them to immediately visit flood- and drought-affected areas, assess the ground situation and submit reports to the government.

The state is witnessing contrasting weather conditions, with several districts facing drought while heavy rainfall and flooding have affected others, disrupting normal life and causing damage to property.

In a letter to ministers dated 3 August, Shivakumar asked them to inspect conditions across the taluks in their assigned districts and submit factual reports without delay to the deputy chief minister and the revenue minister.

"In view of the heavy rainfall/flood and drought situation prevailing in the state, you, as a member of the Council of Ministers, are hereby requested to immediately visit the districts assigned to you. During the visit, personally inspect the situation in each taluk, assess the ground realities and submit a factual report without delay to the Deputy Chief Minister and the Minister for Revenue," the letter said.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, the chief minister said ministers had been asked to begin visits from Wednesday, 5 August.

"I have asked ministers to visit drought- and flood-affected areas without wasting time. I have directed them to visit their respective districts from tomorrow itself and carry out site inspections. All ministers will be involved in the exercise from tomorrow," he said.

The districts assigned include Tumakuru, Chitradurga, Chikkaballapur, Bengaluru Rural, Kolar, Bengaluru South, Vijayanagara, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, Shivamogga, Vijayapura, Bagalkote, Gadag, Davanagere, Haveri, Belagavi, Dharwad, Uttara Kannada, Kalaburagi, Raichur, Bidar, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Kodagu, Mysuru, Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Ballari, Yadgir, Koppal and Bengaluru Urban.

Among the ministers assigned districts are G. Parameshwara (Tumakuru), K.H. Muniyappa (Bengaluru Rural), Ramalinga Reddy (Kolar), B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan (Vijayanagara), K.J. George (Chikkamagaluru), Madhu Bangarappa (Shivamogga), M.B. Patil (Vijayapura), Satish Jarkiholi (Belagavi), Santosh Lad (Dharwad), Priyank Kharge (Kalaburagi), Eshwar Khandre (Bidar), U.T. Khader (Dakshina Kannada and Udupi), Yathindra Siddaramaiah (Mysuru), B. Nagendra (Ballari), Sharan Prakash Patil (Yadgir) and Krishna Byre Gowda (Bengaluru Urban).

With PTI inputs