Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has again requested the Centre to extend immediate financial assistance to flood-affected Telangana which suffered huge damage.
The Chief Minister called for all-out help from the Centre without any conditions to provide relief. The CM also emphasized that the strict rules which are being implemented by the Centre for using disaster
relief funds should be relaxed.
The CM brought to the notice of the Central team the hurdles being faced by the state in using even a Rupee from the available Rs 1,350 crore NDRF funds due to stringent Central regulations.
The guidelines have prescribed using only Rs 1 lakh for repairing one km of road. The CM said that it would not be possible to take up even temporary repairs of damaged roads with the meagre charges fixed by the Centre.
The Chief Minister said that the details of SSR rates in the state will also be included in the flood damage report which is to be submitted to the Centre and requested the Central team to examine the report and provide disaster relief.
The Chief Minister briefed the Central team about the heavy rains and damages caused by the floods in the state. According to the comprehensive estimates compiled by various departments, the damage caused by the recent floods and heavy rains is a staggering Rs 10,320 crore. A final report of the damages is being prepared.
The Chief Minister said the loss of human lives could be reduced due to the vigilance of ministers and officials in flood-hit areas. Thousands of houses were damaged and crops were washed away on lakhs of acres. Farmers bore the brunt of the heavy rains as agricultural fields got covered with boulders, gravel and mud, he said.
The CM explained to the Central team that the damage to roads, culverts and lakes exceeded preliminary estimates. The CM met a group of Central officials who arrived in the state to assess the damage caused by the floods.
Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy, Khammam MP Raghuram Reddy, Chief Minister’s Advisor Vem Narender Reddy, Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari and other top officials attended the meeting held at the Secretariat on Friday.
The Chief Minister said the construction of a retaining wall for Munneru Vagu will be a permanent solution to prevent floods in Khammam town. The CM requested the Centre to allocate adequate funds for the construction of the retaining wall and that the state is ready to release its share of funds.
The government will sanction houses to flood-affected people in Rakasi tanda, Satyanarayana thanda and the people of other tribal habitations in low-lying areas in nearby safe areas, the CM said requesting the Centre to assist in the construction of houses.
The CM asserted that the Centre should focus more on preventive measures instead of providing support after floods and natural calamities. The Chief Minister also suggested to the Central team to focus on providing early warning of environmental disasters like heavy rains and heat waves.
The CM informed the Central team that the police battalions located in different districts will be used to provide immediate relief measures during floods in future.
Special training will be provided to 100 selected people in each battalion, the CM said and added that the government is seeking NDRF help to provide equipment, training and skills to tackle natural disasters.
The recent incident of the uprooting of trees on nearly 50,000 acres in the Medaram forest area also came up for discussion at the meeting.
The CM said that no human loss was reported after the incident in a forest area. A major disaster could have occurred if such a big incident had been reported from the plains. The Central team said that they have not come across such an incident so far.
The Chief Minister requested the Central team to depute experts to conduct a scientific study about the disaster and also examine the precautions which need to be taken to prevent such incidents in future.
A group of Central officials from Delhi divided themselves into two groups and toured the flood-affected areas of Khammam, Mahbubabad and Suryapet districts for two days. The teams inspected the damages in the flood-affected areas.
NDMA advisor Colonel KP Singh is heading the Central team and Shantinath Shivappa, Mahesh Kumar, Nayal Kansan, Rakesh Meena and Shashivardhan Reddy are its members.
