Parmesh Jain

An immediate compensation of Rs.10,000 for the houses which were affected due to water entering the premises, and Rs.5 lakh for the houses which were completely destroyed and an amount of Rs.1 lakh for the houses which were damaged would be paid soon for those who suffered due to incessant rains and flooding in Yelahanka area recently, Chief Minister,Basavaraj Bommai said.

Speaking to media persons after his visit to waterlogged Kendriya Vihar Apartment in Yelahanka Bommai said,I have ordered release of Rs10,000 today itself for those who had to suffer due to water entering their homes.

About 400 houses are affected in Yelahanka area. About 10km of main roads and 20km of interior roads are also damaged.

I have instructed for preparing the estimates of damage to infrastructure.Funds would be released immediately to take up repair works.”

The Chief Minister, Bommai attributed the flooding problem to hurdles for Rajakaluves. Work for widening of 50km of Rajakaluves had been taken up.It had been decided to take up widening of 50km more.

The width of the Rajakaluves need to be widened from the present 8–10feet to 30ft.Necessary measures would be taken for smooth flow of flood waters in Rajakaluves,he said.

Continuous rains in the last 3 days had filled Yelahanka lake which is overflowing. Flood water inundated the houses in surrounding areas and Kendriya Vihar apartment complex.

Water has submerged the basement of the apartment upto 4–5 feet.Local MLA Vishwanath provided food, water and other essential help for the residents who are stuck in their homes, Bommai said.

Drainage system for the Apartment :

There are 603 people residing in Kendriya Vihar apartment complex. Necessary drainage system would be provided for the complex to drain out the flood waters.

National Highways Authority would be approached to get necessary clearance to take up the works as the drains passed under the highway.Then only the problem could be solved permanently, Bommai said.

Source of the problem :

The problem had its source at Yelahanka lake which is connected to 11 more lakes upstream.

The heavy rains has led to overflow from all the lakes to Yelahanka lake which has two narrow Rajakaluves which are choked at many places or being encroached,the Chief Minister, pointed out.

Parmesh Jain

A Master plan to widen the major Rajakaluves(main Storm water drains) and build diversion canals in Bengaluru to ensure smooth flow of waters would be drawn up to address the problem of flooding,Chief Minister,Basavaraj Bommai said here on Tuesday.

Chief Minister,Bommai who visited Manyata Tech Park,Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research and surrounding areas which are flooded due to the incessant rains in the last few days said,JNCASR has been badly hit as the flood waters had entered the labs,damaged the equipments and vital research samples.It is a prominent institution engaged in research to better our future.

It is our duty to protect this institution.Necessary action will be taken to prevent water from entering the instiution,its labs and library in future.

A master plan would be drawn up to prevent flooding.Top heads of the institute would also be involved in formulating the master plan,”Bommai said.

Action to widen the Rajakaluves

Attributing the flooding to unusually heavy rains Bommai said,about 138mm of rains lashed the city in just 2 hours recently.All the lakes in and around Yelahanka are overflowing.

The situation is the same in many parts of the city.The existing Rajakaluves with a width of 8 to 10 feet are proving to be inadequate to carry the heavy flow.

The flood waters flow through Yelahanka lake and down to Jakkur lake,Rachenahalli lake and then towards KR Puram to join Pinakini river before entering Tamil Nadu.

Measures would be taken to widen the Rajakaluves and build diversion canals. Action to divert the waters from inundated apartment complexes and institutions would also be initiated,” he stated.

Encroachments on Rajakaluves would be cleared:

Replying to questions from media persons on evicting encroachments on Rajakaluves,Bommai said, BBMP had identified 714 illegal structures on Rajakaluves.

Houses and buildings which have come up on Rajakaluves would be evicted.However he assured that care would be taken to ensure that the poor are not affected by providing them alternative facility.

Houses and residential complexes on the Buffer Zones would be shifted after giving them adequate time to move.

PM Modi seeks report on rain havoc:

Flood havoc in the city has drawn the attention of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi as he called the Chief Minister on Tuesday morning and sought details.

The Prime Minister enquired about loss of lives, damage to crops and public property.He was particularly more concerned about Bengaluru.

The Prime Minister asked me to draw up short term and long term measures to tackle the problem,”Bommai said.

Improve drains at Manyata Tech Park :

Inspecting the water logging at Manyata Tech Park Bommai observed that the problem is being caused by flaws in internal drain system in the tech park.

He instructed the BBMP officers and the personnel of the tech park to work in coordination to address the problem.

Action should be taken at the earliest to ensure that those working in the tech park are are not affected,” he said.

A planned drainage system is needed to avoid flooding in the city.The Water from overflowing lakes is flooding the low lying areas.

A master plan to ensure smooth flow of flood waters from Yelahanka through Mahadevapura to Pinakini river would be drawn up, he said.

BENGALURU: As many as 121 candidates filed their nomination papers on the last day on Tuesday, for the Legislative Council polls for 25 seats which will be held on December 10. According to the state Chief Electoral Officer, a total of 215 sets of nominations were filed by 119 male and two female candidates. 

Members from local bodies — town and gram panchayats, municipalities and city corporations — will elect candidates. The BJP has already started its campaign by launching the Jan Swaraj Yathra and party leaders have been holding conventions at all districts since last week.

The BJP has fielded 57 candidates, the Congress 56 and the JDS 17. Apart from them, there are 68 independent candidates as well as from the Aam Aadmi Party, JDU, Karnataka Rashtra Samithi, Social Democratic Party of India and other minor parties.

Many of the candidates are related to MLAs and ministers. In Dharwad, KPCC working president Saleem Ahmed is contesting against Pradeep Shettar, brother of former chief minister Jagadish Shettar. Ahmed played a major role in the recent Hanagal bypoll where Congress candidate Srinivas Mane won in Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s home district Haveri. Mane was an MLC earlier.

The BJP’s Chief Whip Mahantesh Kavatagimutt is contesting against Congress MLA Lakshmi Hebbalkar’s brother Channaraj Hattiholi from Belagavi.  The Upper House has a strength of 75 members. At present, the BJP has 32 members, Congress 29 and JDS 12 with one Independent. After the death of JDS MLC Dharmegowda last year, the seat fell vacant.

The elections are being held for two seats each from the local body constituencies of Vijayapura, Belagavi, Dharwad, Dakshina Kannada and Mysuru, and one each from Bidar, Kalaburagi, Uttara Kannada, Raichur, Ballari, Chitradurga, Shivamogga, Chikkamagalur, Hassan, Tumakuru, Mandya, Bengaluru, Bengaluru Rural, Kolar and Kodagu.

Parmesh Jain

Incessant rains have caused huge losses to standing crops in the state.GPS based survey of the destruction is on and the details were being uploaded to Relief App.

Officials had been instructed to transfer the compensation amount to affected farmers’ accounts immediately after accessing the details,Chief Minister,Basavaraj Bommai said speaking to media persons during his visit to rain affected areas of Kolar district on Monday.

Starting from Narasapura,the Chief Minister extensively toured the Kolar district and said,I have seen extensive damage to Ragi,Vegetables, horticulture and floriculture crops.

Flood waters from Mudavadi irrigation tank has cut-off road connectivity in the area,About 790 houses have been completely or extensively damaged.

Agri Crops in 48,333 hectares and horticulture crops in 6966 hectares have been affected, 189km length of roads and 34 bridges have been damaged according to preliminary reports,” Bommai said.

Funds available with DCs :

There was no crunch of funds for relief operations as Rs684cr was available in DCs’ PD accounts in the state.

A sum of Rs5 lakh would be paid as compensation for completely damaged houses and Rs3 lakh for partially damaged houses in three instalments. DCs had been instructed to disburse first instalment of Rs1 lakh immediately, Bommai said.

Rs500cr for repair of roads and bridges

State government had released Rs500cr for repair of damaged roads and bridges. Schools and Anganvadis too had suffered damages and their repair would be taken up through NDRF fund, he said.

Clear encroachment of tanks

Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts have many large and minor irrigation tanks, the Chief Minister noted and assured funds for their repair and maintenance. “

Officials have been instructed to clear the encroachments on these tanks. Conduct survey of tanks, put up fencing around them to preserve them,” Bommai said.

Parmesh Jain

The Annapoorneshwari Nagar police have arrested a gang of six including two BPO employees,a cab driver and three students who abducted a BCA student for ransom on Saturday.

The victim,Abhishek,19,a BCA student in a private college and also working in a real estate agency as part time .  

Senior officer told media persons,Abhishek used to get the cash belonging to his office and the car to the college,which gave the idea to his classmates to abduct him and extort ransom.

As per the plan,the accused wearing masks, abducted Abhishek near BDA complex in Annapoorneshwari Nagar in his own car and drove off on Tumkur road and reached Devanahalli via Dabaspete. 

During investigation it was found that the accused even robbed cash Rs 50,000 which belonging to the office and Rs 20,000 which he had brought to pay college fee.

The accused brought a E stamp paper stating that Abhishek had borrowed Rs.10 lakh loan from them promised to return in three months and forced him to sign the paper .

The accused called Abhishek father stating that Abhishek was in their custody for not paying the loan he borrowed an demanded Rs.1 lakh for his release. 

After negotiation father of Abhishek transferred Rs.45,000 to Abhishek account which the accused withdrew from near-by ATMs.

The remaining amount the accused had asked the father to make PAYTM to a roadside shop employee which they had taken from him.

After getting the money,the accused dropped Abhishek back near his house and returned the car and escaped. 

The accused also warned Abhishek not to inform police but the family approached the police and filed a complaint.

Based on a complaint,the Annapoorneshwari Nagar police inspector,Lohith and his crime staff swung into action and arrested six among 2 BPO employees,a cab driver and three classmates who hatched a plan of kidnapping.

The Annapoorneshwari Nagar police recovered mobile phone e stamp paper and Rs.30,000 from them.

There are others involved in the crime and efforts are on to track them down, special team are on job and further investigation is on.

Finally Bengaluru Police Commissioner,Kamal Pant has appreciated Addl CP West,Soumendhu Mukherjee,DCP West,Dr Sanjeev M Patil,ACP, Kodandarama and PI,Lohith and his whole team who has successfully nabbed all the six and for the meticulous investigation done by the team a suitable reward will be given to the team he added.

Bengaluru: The Congress on Monday announced the candidates for the December 10 polls to the Karnataka Legislative Council, saying tickets have been given to active workers and expressed the hope that it would win the maximum number of seats.

However, senior party leader and Leader of the Opposition in the legislative council S R Patil, who had represented the Bijapur local authorities seat and is due to retire in January, has not been given a ticket from the constituency this time, which has instead gone to Sunil Gowda Patil.

The biennial election to the Karnataka Legislative Council from 20 Local Authorities’ Constituencies for 25 seats, due to retirement of sitting members, will be held on December 10.

The candidates announced by AICC today are Shivananda Patil Martur- Gulbarga, Channaraja Basavaraja Hottiholi-Belagavi, Bhimanna Naik-Uttara Kannada, Saleem Ahmed (KPCC Working President)-Hubli Dharwad Gadag Haveri, Sarana Gouda Patil-Raichur, B Somashekar-Chitradurga, R Prasanna Kumar- Shimoga, Manjunath Bhandari- Dakshina Kannada, Gayatri Shantegowda- Chikmagalur.

Also among the candidates are M Shankar- Hassan, R Rajendra-Tumkur, M G Gooli Gowda-Mandya, S Ravi-Bangalore Rural, Mantar Gowda-Kodag, D Thimmaiah-Mysore Chamarajamahar, K C Kondaiah-Bellary.

Speaking to reporters after the list was announced, state Congress President D K Shivakumar said it was done after discussions and keeping in mind the opponent’s candidates. “Opportunity has been given to active workers of the party. We are expecting to win the maximum number of seats.”

To a question on some new faces getting the ticket, he said these are elections from the local authorities’ constituencies and whoever the voters and local leaders felt should be given ticket have been given the opportunity.

Asked about senior party leaders S R Patil, missing tickets this time, Shivakumar said, “Certain decisions have happened at the leadership level regarding senior leaders. There is no question of leaving him… the party has a different strategy for him.”

He further said candidates will soon be announced for, Bidar, Bangalore and Kolar constituencies The ruling BJP has already announced its candidates.

The election is necessitated as the term of office of the 25 MLCs is going to end on January 5, 2022.

While tomorrow is the last date for filing nomination papers, scrutiny will take place on November 24.

The last date for withdrawal of candidature is November 26, and the counting of votes will take place on December 14.

Bengaluru: The Kempegowda International Airport here has become the first airport in South Asia to commission a Rosenbauer tactical simulator for further strengthening firefighting, Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) said on Monday.

With the simulator, firefighters can train in a realistic environment, master the tactical use of Rosenbauer Panther trucks as well as operate high reach extendable turrets (HRET) for extreme aircraft fire emergencies, BIAL, the operator of the airport, said in a press release.

The state-of-the-art facility would be open for firefighters from other airports (in the country and abroad), State fire departments and defence forces, it said.

According to the release, the simulator provides incident commanders, crew commanders and lead firefighters an opportunity to gain experience in the tactical use of CFTs (crash fire tenders) through turret control and application of firefighting agents, command and control, vehicle operation and basic driving and positioning skills.

The simulator has a cockpit that matches every detail of the Rosenbauer fire truck by providing a realistic experience in operation of CFTs, including all operating controls, from the steering wheel to turret control, projected through multiple 55″ HD screens, it said.

At BLR Airport, our top priority is to maintain the highest standards of safety and with the Rosenbauer CFTs, we are well-equipped to efficiently handle difficult fire emergencies. We believe in training our teams, equipping them with advanced tools and modern technology by providing them with hands-on experience and keeping them ready to contain any possible emergencies. The tactical simulator will support in strengthening our firefighting capabilities even further, BIAL chief operating officer Jayaraj Shanmugam.

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday said Rs 500 crore will be released for repair of roads and bridges that have been damaged due to incessant rains and floods in different parts of the state and instructions have been issued for immediate disbursal of compensation for those whose houses have been damaged.

“Rs 500 crore will be released for the repair of damaged roads and bridges, I have instructed immediate release of Rs 1 lakh (first instalment) to those whose houses have been fully damaged, and also to release money for those whose houses have been partially damaged,” Bommai said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said the survey of crop loss is being taken on a war-footing and as and when the report gets uploaded to the designated app, compensation will be released.

The Chief Minister will be travelling to rain affected parts of Kolar district and Hoskote in Bengaluru rural district, later in the day.

In response to a question, he said the Election Commission has permitted Ministers of the concerned departments and the Chief Minister to travel across the state to take stock of the damage caused by rains and to oversee the relief measures.

The Chief Minister on Sunday had said that he has sought permission from the Election Commission for the Ministers to travel to the rain ravaged districts to oversee the relief work, in the wake of December 10 Legislative Council polls and the Model Code of Conduct being in place.

He had last night chaired a meeting with senior Ministers and officials to review the destruction caused by rains and relief measures undertaken by the government.

A total of 24 people have lost their lives till Sunday evening, due to rains and floods caused by it across the state since the beginning of this month, Karnataka Disaster Management Authority officials said.

As per the preliminary loss and damages estimated by the authority since November 1, as many as 658 houses have been completely damaged, while 8,495 houses have been partially damaged.

While an estimated 191 animals have lost their lives, crops in over 4 lakh hectares have been damaged, out of them 3,79,501 hectares are agriculture crops and 30,114 hectares are horticulture crops.

The data shared by the officials also showed that 2,203 km of roads have been damaged.

Other infrastructure damage till Sunday evening include 1,225 schools, 39 PHCs, 1,674 electric poles and 278 electric transformers.

Bengaluru: A total of 24 people have lost their lives due to incessant rains across the state since the beginning of this month, Karnataka Disaster Management Authority officials said on Sunday.

As per the preliminary loss and damages estimated by the authority so far since November one, 658 houses have been completely damaged, while 8,495 houses have been partially damaged.

While, an estimated 191 animals have lost their lives till now; crops in over 4 lakh hectares have been damaged, out of them 3,79,501 hectares are agriculture crops and 30,114 hectares are horticulture crops.

The data shared by the officials also showed that 2,203 km of roads have been damaged.

Other infrastructure damage so far include 1,225 schools, 39 PHCs, 1,674 electric poles and 278 electric transformers.

According to official data, since November 1, while 27 districts have received large excess rains, in 21 districts there have been more than 200 per cent departure from normal rainfall.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday night chaired a meeting with senior Ministers and officials to review the destruction caused by rains and relief measures undertaken by the government.

Officials of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) have busted another inter state drug racket operating between Kerala and karnataka.

The officials have trailed the route of the drug transit to caught a 22 year old fisherman while he was receiving Methamphetamine worth Rs 2.03 crore .

Acting on a credible information,a team led by Amith Ghawate,Zonal director NCB,trailed a consignment in the form of 40 grams of meth at a courier agency in Kattigenahalli in Yelahanka on Thursday which was heading to Thiruvanathapuram.

The Anti-corruption team had information that drugs was being regularly smuggled to Kerala through couriers in Bengaluru.

Following which the NCB team raided a private courier firm on Kattigenahalli in Yelahanka and found someone had booked a cellphone box to Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

They cut opened to find a small packet filled with white-coloured powder which was later confirmed as meth , a senior officer part of the operation”a senior officer,said .

The NCB team alerted their counterparts in Kerala and few days later a 22-year-old man who is a fisherman by profession was nabbed in Thiruvananthapuram when he came to claim the box at the agency’s local branch.

The accused been withheld was arrested under the NDPS Act and bring questioned to ascertain the network .