Jagan visits flood-hit AP districts, promises to spare no expense for relief

Alluri Sita Rama Raju: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy asked people in the flood-affected mandals of Kunavaram and VR Puram in Alluri Sita Rama Raju district to complain if they did not receive relief.

Jagan is on a two-day tour of the flood-affected districts of Alluri Sita Rama Raju, Eluru and Konaseema from Monday.

“Our government is striving to extend relief in a transparent manner. We don’t have the intention to reduce expenses while providing relief. We believe that nobody should be left behind. That is our goal,” the chief minister said while interacting with the flood-affected villagers.

He said that all the departments of the government have been activated, including volunteers and ward and village secretariats to extend timely relief. The district collectors have been given all the resources to execute relief operations. If anyone does not receive relief dole-outs, he asked them to come forward and complain.

Elaborating the rationale behind his delayed visit, Jagan said he didn’t want to come right after the floods, pose for photographs and go away but wanted to give sufficient time and resources to officials and then come and visit to hear that there are no complaints.

The chief minister said that he has instructed the collectors to dole out basic essentials and Rs 2,000 cash to all the families affected by flood waters entering their houses. The essentials include 25 kg of rice, dal, palm oil, milk and vegetables. Likewise, in the event of houses getting damaged, he said all such households should be given a relief of Rs 10,000 without discriminating on the type of house.

Addressing a gathering, Jagan said, “Apart from the Rs 6.8 lakh compensation provided by the Centre, the state government would pay another Rs 3.2 lakh compensation to the victims soon after the centre begins the process.”

Several people complained that many villages were not in the 41.15 m contour but they were also not in a condition to go if there was a flood. In the first phase of the Polavaram project, even if the water was stopped, 48 villages would be included in the cutoff list, and they would lose connectivity with the other villages. To identify them, a lidar survey was carried out in 32 villages and 48 habitations were identified and their details were sent to the Centre.

“It is the YSRCP government which has taken up the lidar survey and the Centre is convinced of it. We are expecting to get approval from the Central Cabinet by August end. The state government’s proposals have already been sent from the Polavaram Project Authority to the Central Water Commission (CWC). Further, the proposals will be sent to the Ministry of Jal Shakti,” Jagan said.