While 19 teams of NDRF personnel are on duty, 17 columns of Indian Army, 2 teams of SDRF, 5 teams of Indian Coast Guard and 2 teams of the Indian Navy are at work for rescue and relief. (Express Photo) While 19 teams of NDRF personnel are on duty, 17 columns of Indian Army, 2 teams of SDRF, 5 teams of Indian Coast Guard and 2 teams of the Indian Navy are at work for rescue and relief. (Express Photo)

Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda and former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding the immediate release of Rs 5,000 crore for flood relief and rehabilitation work in the state.

“I request you to release Rs 5,000 crore as interim relief pending final submission by the state government followed by an assessment by a high-level Central team and recommendation of the inter-ministerial committee on disaster management on assessment and quantification of the damage suffered by the state due to flood havoc,” Deve Gowda stated in his letter.

“The state government, at present headed by B S Yediyurappa, is preoccupied in flood relief and rescue work and may take a few days to carry out an assessment of the damage. For the present, the total damage can be assessed at Rs 10,000 crore,” he added.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah Sunday took an aerial survey of the flood-hit regions of Belagavi in Karnataka and Maharashtra’s Kolhapur and Sangli. (Source: Amit Shah/Twitter) Union Home Minister Amit Shah Sunday took an aerial survey of the flood-hit regions of Belagavi in Karnataka and Maharashtra’s Kolhapur and Sangli. (Source: Amit Shah/Twitter)

The flood situation in the state is aggravated due to the heavy discharge of water from dams of upper riparian states – Maharashtra and Kerala – which resulted in flooding, he said.

Siddaramaiah also made a similar plea in his letter and added that politics over the issue must be avoided. “There should not be any politics in this distress situation. It will be very difficult for BJP CM Yediyurappa to act alone and quite impossible to ensure justice in all the departments. I urge him to immediately form the cabinet and make ministers in-charge for each district,” Siddaramaiah said.

As many as 42 people have died across 10 districts in the state since heavy rain began last week. The rains have abated since Sunday leading to a need for an assessment.

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