BSY walks,claims Rs 500 cr collected

On the first day of the CM’s fund-gathering efforts on Wednesday the entourage coursed through Old Bangalore commercial centers of Avenue Road,Chickpet,Balepet,the streets full of stores selling jewellery,saris and textiles — manned mostly by people from Rajasthan and Gujarat. On day two they traversed south Bangalore parts of Basavangudi,Jayanagar where a number of the city’s IT brains reside.

On Wednesday evening,the Chief Minister and Cabinet ministers held a meeting with businessmen from across the city including IT and BT company heads seeking help from them to provide flood relief. According to sources,the attendance was not to the expected level with several key industry players not showing up,while others preferred to offer limited resources.

The Karnataka government is demanding that the flood devastation,with the official death toll at 220,be declared a national calamity and has sought Rs 10,000 crore from the UPA government. The claim of the collection of Rs 500 crore made following the CM’s walkathon diminished the announcement of the release of Rs 52 crore for Karnataka by the government of India. On Thursday,the CM’s office again forwarded a memorandum seeking funds under the National Calamity Contingency Fund to Home Minister P Chidambaram.