Bengaluru : The Karnataka Flood Management Action Plan 2021 has been readied after assessing the flood situation in the last three years and also incorporating the learning from the best practices followed in flood management in other parts of the country. Revenue Minister Mr R Ashoka who is also the vice-chairman of Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority held a monsoon preparedness meeting on Monday.

During the meeting, he said that 1710 villages have been identified as flood prone in Karnataka. Out of them, 758 villages were categorized as maximum risk and 952 villages as medium risk villages. A check list has also been sent to the officials on the measures to be taken during the flood situation besides pointers as to how various departments need to coordinate during the flood situation. “We need to set up various committees by including local villagers for flood relief works and responsibility should be fixed. Steps should be taken to shift the people affected by floods on a priority basis. There should be uninterrupted power supply to essential services in case of floods. We need to ensure utmost transparency in providing relief works and priority should be given to senior citizens, differently abled, women and children. The Centre has allocated Rs 1,054 crore grants under SDRF funds for the year 2020-21. The first tranche of Rs 316.4 crore has already been released and this fund is available in the PD account of the deputy commissioners. We will be soon submitting the Tauktae cyclone damage report to the Centre shortly”, Mr Ashoka said.

He said that Karnataka has received 74 pc of excess rainfall in the pre-monsoon season (January 1-May 31). While 20 out of the 30 districts received excess rainfall, the others reported a deficit. Around 74 pc of the rainfall is witnessed during the monsoon season (June to September). The state’s sowing and agriculture largely depends on the monsoon rainfall. As per the prediction by the India Meteorological Department (issued on June 1, 2021), normal rainfall is predicted. In 23 out of the 30 districts, the rainfall is expected to be normal to above normal while seven districts may see a deficit. As per the predictions, 16 districts will receive normal rainfall, 10 districts will receive slightly below normal and four districts may face a deficit. The south west monsoon arrived on June 4 and has brought widespread rainfall so far.

“Though the IMD has predicted normal rainfall for the 2021 season, we need to be prepared for natural calamities like floods, landslides, drought and lightning attacks. To tackle these calamities, there is a need for a preparedness strategy. Firstly, we need to identify the vulnerable villages. A flood warning cell has already been set up at Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre. An inter-state coordination has been done for reservoir water management and sharing of information. Responsibility has been fixed for disaster relief at various stages. Four NDRF teams have been kept ready for the disaster relief works. Around 400 plus SDRF teams have been strengthened and kept as standby to face any eventuality. Meetings to be held with the respective departments every week. A meeting was held on May 15 to assess the damage caused by the Tauktae cyclone. I had personally visited the cyclone affected areas on May 17 and 18”, Mr Ashoka said.