PM announces Rs 400 cr flood relief for Maharashtra

MUMBAI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday announced Rs 400 crore for relief operations in flood-ravaged Maharashtra. Of this, Rs 220 crore would come from the calamity relief fund and Rs 180 crore, announced earlier by the Centre, from the national calamity contingency fund, Maharashtra government’s director general of publicity Manisha Mhaiskar-Patankar told reporters on Friday.

Mr Singh’s announcement comes a week after the state government wrote to the Centre, seeking financial assistance of Rs 500 crore for relief operations in flood-affected areas.

Mr Singh on Friday reviewed the flood situation in Nanded district in Marathwada region and announced that a central team would be sent to assess the damage caused by the floods. The prime minister arrived at Nanded just after noon and met flood-affected people who have been camping in relief shelters.

He later addressed a review meeting on the flood situation attended by top officials of the centre and state along with the chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. Mr Singh was accompanied by minister of state in PMO Prithviraj Chavan and Union minister of state for rural development Suryakanta Patil.

Meanwhile the death toll has shot up to 255 across the state and heavy rains have impacted 7,375 villages in 209 tehsils of 29 districts in Maharashtra. Such is the sweep of heavy showers that only 6 districts of Maharashtra remain out of its impact so far.

The rescue operation has evacuated more than 3.5 lakh people and some of the people shifted to safer place earlier have gone back to their villages after flood water receded, Ms Mhaiskar said.

Meanwhile, the BJP on Friday claimed that heavy rains have caused losses of Rs 10,000 crore. “Despite losses on such a large scale, the chief minister himself has asked for a meagre help of Rs 500 crore. The centre should at least bear 50% of the total losses worth Rs 10,000 crore,” senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde said.

Maharashtra BJP president Nitin Gadkari pointed out that the centre had not yet sanctioned a penny more than Rs 1200 crore it released after July floods last year in the state.

“The state’s demand for Rs 12,000 crore assistance for 2005 floods is still pending with the centre even when the state has again been hit by floods,” Mr Gadkari said. The BJP has also demanded that the parameters for calculating losses be revised by the state and the centre.