Bommai holds talks on ways to make K’taka climate resilient

Bengaluru, Dec 5 : Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday held a discussion with Auguste Tano Kouame, Country Director, India, World Bank and his team here to chalk out plans to make Karnataka a climate resilient one.
The Chief Minister requested the World Bank to provide international-level expertise to make Karnataka ‘climate resilient’.
In the last five years, the state has witnessed at least 7-8 severe droughts and floods, landslides and soil erosion. There is a record of facing severe drought and unprecedented floods in one year. This has caused large-scale damage to the public property, and has also upset people’s daily life.
Bommai said the government has taken the recent unprecedented floods in Bengaluru city seriously and is planning to make preparations to find out a permanent solution to the natural disaster. The state is expecting cooperation from the World Bank for the management of floods in Bengaluru City, drought, sea erosion and reducing the danger of natural disaster.
Among these, priority must be given for the management of Bengaluru floods and soil erosion, he said. The government will extend all cooperation by making an agreement for the implementation of these projects in a phased manner.
The government has already announced its decision regarding joining hands with the World Bank to solve the plastic waste problems in sea, in the state budget 2022-23. Karnataka was the first state in the whole country to present a separate budget on environment and earmarked Rs 100 crore to undone the damage caused to environment, CM Bommai stated. Kouame, meanwhile, expressed satisfaction over the environment-friendly measures adopted by the state government.
The World Bank is ready to provide all kinds of assistance in order to make Karnataka as Climate Resilience and promised to help the implementation of the project in a phased manner. Chief Secretary Vandita Sharma, Chief Minister’s Principal Secretary N. Manjunath Prasad, Principal Secretary (Revenue Department-Natural Disaster Management) T.K. Anil Kumar, Chief Minister’s Secretary M.S. Srikar, State Disaster Management Department Commissioner Manoj Ranjan and others were present.