WB losses Rs 1,500 cr due to flood
West Bengal has suffered a financial loss to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore due to damage of crops in the recent floods, finance minister Dr Asim Dasgupta said on Thursday.
By TNN |
KOLKATA: West Bengal has suffered a financial loss to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore due to damage of crops in the recent floods, finance minister Dr Asim Dasgupta said on Thursday.
He also said his department had taken special measures to recover the loss. However, the state government has not yet sought any central assistance for the purpose.
Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will soon visit some flood-hit districts in south Bengal, Dr Dasgupta informed. A special control room has also been opened at the state administrative headquarters of Writers’ Buildings, he added.
Dr Dasgupta said that a study conducted jointly by the agriculture and finance ministry revealed that crops cultivated on about 6 lakh hectares of farm land got damaged in the recent floods in several districts. “The financial loss has been calculated at Rs 1500 crore and we are trying hard to recover the same,” the minister said.
He said that his ministry had sanctioned Rs 15 crore which will be distributed among the affected farmers for purchasing seeds and other raw materials for agricultural production. Another Rs 75 crore had also been sanctioned for relief and rehabilitation of the affected farmers, Dr Dasgupta said.
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Dr Dasgupta also said that about 79 lakh people in 16 districts were affected in the recent flood and 77 deaths had been reported so far. “However, the casualty figure might be higher than the official records as the government has not yet received detail reports from the districts,” he said.
The state government has set up 938 relief camps where about 2.5 lakh affected persons have been camping till date. About 3.30 lakh houses were also damaged and 247 medical teams are working in all the affected blocks in flood-hit areas.
Meanwhile, West Bengal chief secretary Amit Kiran Deb said on Thursday that the government had cancelled holidays including puja holidays of the field level employees of various departments connected with relief and rehabilitation work, for an indefinite period.
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