Evacuation flight from UAE to Karnataka: Efforts of KNRI president Praveen Shetty pays off

Bengaluru, Apr 1: Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu on Wednesday said that 200 people, out of 342 from the state who had attended the religious gathering at Markaz building in Delhi's Nizamuddin area, have been quarantined.

"200 people including four from Bengaluru and five from Belgaum, who participated in Tablighi Jamaat (in Delhi's Nizamuddin), have been quarantined. Total 342 people from Karnataka had attended the event," Sriramulu told reporters here.

The gatherings organised by the Tablighi Jamaat at the Markaz building in Nizamuddin came into the spotlight after multiple coronavirus cases were confirmed amongst those who attended the event held in March.
Twenty-four cases were reported from the national capital alone, apart from Telangana, the union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands amongst others.

The minister had earlier said that Bengaluru Urban and Mysuru have been identified among the prime 25 COVID-19 hotspots in the country.
Chikkaballapur, since the last fourteen days, has been emerging as another hotspot, according to Sriramulu.

The total number of coronavirus cases in India has risen to 1,637 after 240 new cases were reported in the country, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, on Wednesday.

The total number of active cases rose to 1466 in the country, while 132 people have been cured and discharged after receiving treatment, as of 9 am.

Bengaluru, Jul 9: Alarmed over surging COVID-19 cases, the Karnataka government has decided to divide this tech city into containment zones to curb the spread of the pandemic, a state minister said on Thursday.

"The city will be divided into red, orange and yellow zones in commensurate with the number of Covid cases in them for containing the virus spread on war footing," Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J.C. Madhuswamy told reporters here.

Cabinet ministers representing assembly segments in the city will be in-charge of the zones to ensure the cases are curbed with strict enforcement of lockdown guidelines, especially wearing mask and maintaining social distancing by the people in the confinement areas.

"Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa has convened a meeting of ministers, MLAs, MPs and corporators of all the 198 civic wards across the city on Friday to discuss and draw an action plan to contain the pandemic," said Madhuswamy.

With 1,148 positive cases, the city''s Covid tally rose to 12,509 and active to 10,103, while 2,228 were discharged, including 418 on Wednesday, while 177 succumbed to the infection since March 9, with 23 in the last 24 hours.

"The Chief Minister ordered deploying more ambulances in the containment areas where cases have been spiking daily to rush Covid patients to the nearest hospital for immediate treatment," said Madhuswamy.

The city civic corporation -- Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) --has increased the containment zones to 3,181 due to more cases spiking, with southern and western suburbs accounting for most infections.

"The containment zones are concentrated more in the city''s southern and western suburbs. Active cases doubled over the last 8 days and shot up to a whopping 12,509 from 4,555 on June 30," an official said.

Refuting graft charges by opposition Congress leader Siddaramaiah in the purchase of medical equipment for treatment of Covid patients, Madhuswamy said the state government had not spent more than Rs 600 crore so far.

"We are running a government. Not a private office. We will give account. He (Siddaramaiah) is welcome to check the accounts and verify the documents," asserted the minister.

In a related development, the cabinet also approved an ordinance to increase the state contingency fund to Rs 500 crore from Rs 80 crore for the Covid-19 induced economic relief measures announced by the chief minister in June.

Bengaluru, Mar 30: The nationwide lockdown has left the state on the brink of a fresh agrarian crisis.

The lack of transport facilities spells doom for ready-to-harvest grapes worth Rs 500-600 crore in Bengaluru Rural, Chikkaballapur and Kolar districts. Unable to find buyers, several farmers have begun dumping their produce into compost pits.

On Sunday, Munishamappa, a farmer in Chikkaballapur, emptied four truckloads of grapes into the pit as buyers didn’t turn up due to the lockdown. “If the grapes wither and fall to the ground, it will affect the soil’s fertility and I will be forced to dispose of them,” he said.

Venkata Krishnappa, Munishamappa’s son, said their 1.5-acre vineyard yielded 25 tonnes of grapes. “Just before the lockdown, 10 tonnes were harvested and delivered to the market. Due to lack of transport, buyers haven’t turned up for the remaining 15 tonnes which we are dumping into the pit.”

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Anjaneya Reddy, a farmer leader, said that in Chikkaballapur alone, they have cultivated grapes on 2,000 acres. “Even if you consider 15 tonnes per acre as yield, there are about 30,000 tonnes ready to be harvested in the district. At a market rate of Rs 50 to Rs 60 per kilogram, the net worth will be Rs 200 crore to Rs 300 crore. And if you consider the crop in Kolar and Bengaluru Rural, grapes worth Rs 500 to Rs 600 crore are at stake,” he explained.

The ‘Dilkush’ grapes is the most preferred variety of domestic consumption, according to the farmers.

This apart, farmers would have invested about Rs 3 lakh to 4 lakh per acre on fertilisers, pesticide and labour. “With markets being shut and no of the transport facilities available, farmers are forced to dump their produce into pits. It is high time the government intervened and provided us with market options so that farmers can sell at an affordable price of Rs 30 to 40,” Reddy said.

Somu, a farmer in Ganjam village of Srirangapattana, dumped two tonnes of chikku (sapota) citing market shutdown in Mandya. Reddy appealed to the government to emulate the Maharashtra model where the government is helping farmers market fruits through Hopcoms or dairy units as nutrient supplements to people.