Defence minister to visit flood-hit Kodagutomorrow

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will visittomorrowthe flood and landslide-ravaged Kodagu district, bordering Kerala, where rescue and relief operations are underway in full swing.

The torrential rains that lashed the district last week has left a huge trail of destruction and claimed at least 17 lives. More than 5,000 people have been rendered homeless.

Sitharaman is expected to reach Kushalnagartomorrowmorning and scheduled to visit affected areas and talk to people there, the Karnataka BJP said.

She will then travel to landslide-hit areas of Madapur and take stock of the situation.

After that, she is scheduled to visit a relief camp in Madikeri and interact with the inmates there.

The defence minister will also hold meetings with the district administration and other officials at the Deputy Commissioner's office on the relief and rehabilitation work.

Sitharaman, a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, is the second Union minister to visit the flood-ravaged district, after D V Sadananada Gowda, who hails from the state.

Her visit comes a day after state BJP Chief B S Yeddyurappa said he had apprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the situation in Kodagu.

Meanwhile, former chief minister Siddaramaiah along with Pradesh Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao visited affected areas of the district and took stock of the situation today.

Speaking to reporters, Siddaramaiah urged Modi to visitKodagu, assess the loss that have taken place and release adequate relief from the centre.

The Prime Minister should have visited Kodagu, when he visited Kerala, he said, referring to Modi undertaking an aerial survey in the neighbouring state where unprecedented floods claimed 231 lives and displaced lakhs since August 8.

Siddaramaaih, who is also the chief of the Congress-JD(S) coordination committee, complemented the government for the relief work undertaken and said it has to speed up."