The Hindu : CM seeks Rs. 367.47-cr. cyclone relief from Centre

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 22, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

CM seeks Rs. 367.47-cr. cyclone relief from Centre

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, JAN. 21. The Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, on Wednesday urged the inter-ministerial Central relief team, which called on him after visiting the cyclone-hit districts of East and West Godavari, Guntur and Krishna, to recommend a relief of Rs. 367.47 crores.

A press release issued by the Chief Minister's Office quoted Mr. Naidu as having requested the team to be `liberal' and `realistic' and ensure a humane consideration while recommending assistance.

During the interaction, he said 2,64,718 hectares of agricultural and horticultural crops were damaged. Already Rs. 40.57 crores had been released from the Central relief fund as input subsidy to the affected farmers.

The Chief Minister put the damage at Rs. 76,592.92 lakhs. The primary value of damage to agriculture was Rs. 35,128.99 lakhs, horticulture Rs. 22,380.94 lakhs, animal husbandry Rs. 85.14 lakhs, fisheries Rs. 271.16 lakhs, panchayat raj (roads & bridges, minor irrigation) Rs. 5,000 lakhs, R & B department Rs. 6,027 lakhs, APTransco Rs. 2,010.69 lakhs, municipal administration Rs. 5,500 lakhs and individual houses Rs. 189 lakhs.

The team members observed that extensive damage had been caused to paddy, turmeric and chilli crops besides housing and power sectors. They said every sector had been affected by the natural calamity.

According to the release, the members appreciated the pace of restoration and relief work extended to the victims by the State and the district administrations. They expressed happiness that power was restored in the cyclone-hit areas in two hours.

The Chief Secretary, Mohan Kanda, the Agriculture Secretary, Ashutosh Mishra, the Agriculture Commissioner, Sutirth Bhattacharya, the Commissioner of Civil Supplies, Bhanwarlal, and other senior officials were present.

The team members -- I. S. Sidhu, B. C. Munda, Alok Gupta and Akhil Kumar Jain - visited East and West Godavari districts while Manoj Kumar and K. P. Saroha visited Guntur and Krishna districts.

Meanwhile, the AP Rytu Sangham, in a memorandum submitted to the team stated that the cyclone loss was much more than the Government's estimate of Rs. 500 crores. It sought proper estimate of the crop damage and payment of actual loss to farmers. It demanded compensation of Rs. 2 lakhs to each family of over 89 persons killed in the cyclone and also for the damaged houses. The sangham leaders described the relief measures taken by the State as `eyewash'.

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