Visit flood-hit AP, Veerraju writes to Centre

BJP state president Somu Veerraju on Friday expressed concern over the Andhra Pradesh government’s alleged failure to tackle the flood problem in the state and demanded the central government’s intervention in this regard.

In a letter to the central government, Andhra Pradesh BJP president noted that farmers have suffered huge losses and crops in lakhs of hectares were destroyed due to the flash floods. The state government has failed to pay compensation to the farmers who incurred heavy losses.

He appealed to the Union government to send an inter-ministerial team to assess the damage due to heavy rains and floods in Andhra Pradesh. He alleged that the Andhra Pradesh government had failed to take up adequate measures to minimise losses arising out of the recent floods.

He appealed that a central team should tour several flood-affected districts in Andhra Pradesh, interact with affected people and inquire about the relief operations. He said the central team should hold discussions with senior officials, villagers and farmers to obtain information on the nature and extent of damage caused by the floods.

A five-member team, led by Joint Secretary Praveen Vashista, is currently touring flood-hit districts in Telangana to assess the extent of damage caused by the torrential rains.

Meanwhile, Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday reviewed the flood situation in the state and enquired about relief measures and damage caused by floods and heavy rains. Minister Kanna Babu informed the Chief Minister that 40,000 hectares of paddy crop in East Godavari was completely damaged due to floods. He apprised the Chief Minister that the flash floods and heavy rainfall submerged crops in 1.07 lakh hectares across the state.

Earlier, Jagan had appealed to the central government to release Rs 1,000 crore as immediate relief. However, Minister of State for Home Kishan Reddy had recently suggested that state governments should use funds from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), constituted under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

“It is the responsibility of the state governments to utilize the funds for providing immediate relief to the victims of natural disasters from the State Disaster Relief Fund. The Central Government contributes 75% of SDRF allocation for general category States/UTs and 25% will have to be borne by the state government,” Kishan Reddy had said.