Udupi : Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary said on Thursday that damage to property due to rain and floods in Udupi district has been estimated at Rs. 545 crore.

Addressing presspersons after chairing a review meeting on rain-related damage at the District Offices Complex here, Mr. Poojary said that as many as five persons had lost their lives in monsoon-related incidents, while 675 houses were damaged.

The kin of the five persons who had died were given a compensation of Rs. 4 lakh each. The kin would be given an additional compensation of Rs.1 lakh each shortly.

Two schools had been fully damaged in the district, while 112 school buildings and 70 anganwadi buildings had been partially damaged. As many as 33 culverts had been damaged. The government had already released a grant of Rs. 5 crore for this purpose to the district.

As per the information collected by the government officials, so far four houses were fully damaged due to rain in the district, 59 houses were severely damaged and the rest were partially damaged. But from the information he was getting from people, the damage to houses were severe. Hence, the officers had been told to do another detailed survey of the damage and submit a comprehensive report, he said.

The State government was giving a compensation of Rs. 5 lakh for a fully damaged house and the compensation given to damaged houses varied. According to the government norms, the compensation for an agricultural field was Rs. 18,000 per hectare.

But farmers wanted compensation for their damaged fields awarded on the basis of per tree, which was given during land acquisition. During land acquisition, compensation given per arecanut tree was Rs.  30,000, while it was Rs.  13,000 per coconut tree, he said.

The district administration and the nodal officers appointed by it had been told to remain vigilant till the end of monsoon. Compared to other districts affected by rain and floods, the damage in Udupi district was not much, Mr. Poojary said.

Deputy Commissioner G. Jagadeesh and Additional Deputy Commissioner Vidya Kumari were present.