Rajnath Singh assures ample relief for UP flood victims

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today declared that relief work in flood-hit Uttar Pradesh will not be affected by financial constraints.

Singh said that although a compensation of Rs 1.5 lakh each has been provided to the families of the deceased, relief work needed to be more aggressive.

"Lots of villages have been affected in Uttar Pradesh due to the floods. The relief work is going on, but it needs to be more aggressive. Around 1100 house have been shattered and around 80 people have lost their lives. I have asked for a memorandum from the state government to be sent to the Government of India. I will send an inter-ministerial team here," said Singh.

"Compensation has been provided to victims. The state government has sufficient funds. However, I can assure you that no financial crisis can come in the way of the relief work," he added. He also pressed upon the need to take precautionary measures as there is a chance of spreading communicable diseases once the water level comes down.

Singh had today arrived in Gorakhpur to undertake an aerial survey of flood-hit areas of Uttar Pradesh.

Previously, he had reviewed the flood situation in affected states with the home ministry officials and directed the National Executive Committee on Disaster Management to closely monitor the situation.

Earlier this week several villages of Gorakhpur District were inundated by flood waters of the River Rapti. Also last week, other parts of India, including Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich District and Sitapur town, West Bengal's Cooch Behar District and Uttarakhand's Haridwar city experienced a flood-like situation.

The flood death toll in Uttar Pradesh as on Thursday has been pegged at 87, of which 33 have been reported from Bahraich. In the last 24 hours, six more persons have lost their lives in Balrampur, and one each have died in Bahraich, Gonda and Lakhimpur Kheri Districts.

The number of those affected by flood in nearly one dozen districts of the state has reached over one million in over 1,100 villages. The flood was reportedly caused by the release of water by Nepal into the rivers.

Apart from Gorakhpur, Singh will undertake an aerial survey of the flood-affected districts of Balrampur, Bahraich, Gonda, Basti and Siddharthnagar today.