Andhra Pradesh seeks Rs 1,000 crore interim grant for flood relief

Pegging the overall damage caused by the recent heavy rains and floods at Rs 6.054.29 crore, the Andhra Pradesh government on Wednesday requested the Centre to immediately release Rs 1,000 crore as interim relief towards flood relief and restoration works.

Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy wrote an identical letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, detailing the havoc caused by heavy rains and floods between November 13 and 20, mainly in Anantapuramu, Kadapa, Chittoor and SPS Nellore districts.

"Despite arranging teams well in advance and serious efforts by the government to save the lives of people, 40, including a State Disaster Response Force constable, died and 25 others were reported missing. As many as 324 relief camps have been arranged, accommodating 69,616 persons in the affected districts and they are still continuing," the Chief Minister said.

He said several highways, irrigation tanks and canals have breached in Kadapa, Chittoor, Anantapuramu and SPS Nellore districts.

"The worst affected were the farmers as crops (like paddy, Bengal gram, cotton, black gram, groundnut and sugarcane) ready for harvesting were damaged," Jagan added.

Agricultural crops in 1.42 lakh hectares suffered damage, with the estimated monetary loss being Rs 1,353.82 crore. Horticultural crops in 42,299 hectares, worth Rs 48.06 crore, were damaged.

Roads and irrigation systems were the worst hit, with the deluge causing a loss of Rs 1,756.43 crore and Rs 556.96 crore respectively, the Chief Minister pointed out in the letter.

Civic infrastructure like roads, pipelines, drains, school buildings and community centres in municipalities suffered a loss of Rs 1,252 crore.

Panchayat Raj roads to a length of 2,254.32 km were battered, inflicting a loss of Rs 381.65 crore.

Rural Water Supply schemes worth Rs 453.33 crore were also damaged, the Chief Minister said.

Hundreds of electricity feeders, substations and distribution lines were also damaged, causing a loss of Rs 252 crore.

"Heavy rains caused inundation of low-lying areas and disrupted normal life. The gravity was such that 17 teams of NDRF and SDRF and two helicopters had to be deployed for undertaking search and rescue operations. In all, 1,402 villages in 196 mandals and four towns were affected," the Chief Minister said.

He requested the Centre to "come to the rescue of the state" in this hour of crisis and immediately release Rs 1,000 crore as interim relief to help the affected families and restore normalcy by undertaking repairs to infrastructure.

The Chief Minister also requested that an Inter-Ministerial Central Team be sent to the state to assess the damages.