MP govt raises compensation for flood-hit

Those who have lost their slums, kachha house or even pakka house will be given Rs 70000

The Madhya Pradesh government on Saturday raised the rate of compensation for losses sustained in flood-hit areas of the state, particularly for those from lower strata of society.

Announcing the increased compensation, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said those who had lost their slum, kachha or pakka house, would now be given Rs 70,000, against the existing compensation of Rs 6,000, Rs 20,000 and Rs 35,000, respectively.

The chief minister confirmed that as many as 134 persons had died in the past one week due to heavy rains, floods and related reasons. “The floods might not have claimed that many human lives, but incidences like house collapses, accidents, etc have done so. The last three days claimed twenty-five human lives,” he said.

A house collapsed in Talaiyya police station locality in Bhopal on Sunday morning and claimed one life. “The Army has been called in Hoshangabad; however, the situation is under control as our timely intervention averted major losses. Yet, we have to calculate crop losses. According to our reports, six districts have been majorly affected,” Chouhan said.

The chief minister would again embark on an aerial survey of Alirajpur and Badwani districts where the situation is still not normal. “My first priority is to arrange immediate help for the flood-hit areas. I would again make an aerial survey of flood-hit areas today,” he said.

The local meteorological department has said the present spell of rains would continue for another 24 hours.  The Narmada is still flowing over the danger mark at 979 feet and many areas of Hoshangabad town are flooded. As many as 25 villages in the Hoshangabad district are the worst-hit. Indian Air Force choppers have been pressed in to carry out rescue operations in Hoshangabad as one thousand people are still feared to be stranded in low-lying areas.