Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, November 23, called Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and assured necessary cooperation and assistance to the rain and flood-hit regions of the state. In a set of tweets, the office of the Chief Minister said the Prime Minister telephoned Bommai and took stock of the situation. "Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi today called Chief Minister Shri @BSBommai to take stock of the situation due to heavy rains and floods in Karnataka. Chief Minister updated the relief and rescue measures taken by the government (sic)," the CMO tweeted.
The Prime Minister expressed his deep concern over the crop loss and loss of lives and assured to provide all the necessary cooperation and assistance, the tweet read. Due to depression and upper air cyclonic circulation in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian sea, the state received heavy downpour in November.
According to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Management Authority Commissioner Manoj Rajan, the state received an average of 129 mm rainfall in November, which was a deviation of 271% from the average rainfall in the month. The data shared by him showed that coastal Karnataka received 228 mm, south interior Karnataka — 186% and Malnad region — 174 mm.
From November one to 21, 24 people lost their lives, 658 houses were completely destroyed and 8,495 houses were partially damaged and nearly 200 animals died. Crops in 3,79,501 hectares and vegetables and fruits grown in 30,114 hectares were damaged due to the recent spell of rain. The KSNDMA said 2,203 km of roads, 165 bridges and culverts, 1,225 schools and 39 primary health centres were damaged due to the rains.
Earlier in the day, Bommai visited the inundated campus of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) in Bengaluru. Labs, the library and other buildings of the premier research institute have been totally waterlogged, while machinery and equipment worth crores have been affected. The campus and building has been completely waterlogged due to continuous rains in the city. Employees at the JNCASR said that precious samples collected from across the country have been laid to waste because of waterlogging.