Kerala - Kannur   

State may press Centre to increase relief fund

Staff Reporter

Amount being fixed according to Central norms: Kodiyeri

KANNUR: Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said here on Monday that the State Government was considering an appeal to the Centre to increase the amount being released to compensate for the loss of houses and crops in natural calamities. The compensation was now being fixed according to the norms set by the Centre.

Addressing a meeting of MLAs and officials to assess the losses caused by the heavy rain and review calamity-relief measures initiated by the Government here, he said that the State Government would be urged to sanction more funds to the district to compensate for the losses caused by monsoon-related calamities last week.

Mr. Balakrishnan said he would demand the Government to increase the amount from the Rs. 50 lakhs sanctioned to help people affected by the monsoon calamities here.

The meeting was told that the loss in the large-scale destruction of properties and crops in the district was estimated at Rs. 17.73 crores.

The Minister said the Government had decided to sanction free rations to people in coastal areas and tribal colonies. Committees at the Assembly constituency level, with the respective MLAs as chairmen and tahsildars as conveners, had been constituted to assess the loss. The MLAs would meet soon to present to the Government a real picture of the monsoon calamities in the district, he said.

Mr. Balakrishnan asked the officials to take precautionary measures ahead of July when the monsoon intensified here. The areas where calamities occurred should be specially monitored. Quick measures should be taken to rehabilitate people living in coastal areas and near rivers.

The Minister said a proposal for shifting schools in dilapidated buildings would be discussed with Minister for Education M.A. Baby.

The Minister urged the officials to complete the drought-relief works. Priority would be given to release compensation to those who had suffered losses in the rain.

Those who had been victims of earlier calamities would be distributed compensation after that, he added.

The rain-related calamities last week took five lives in the district. As many as 33 houses were fully destroyed and 463 houses partially damaged. Destruction of roads alone was estimated at Rs. 9 crores. The loss incurred by the destruction of seawalls was estimated at Rs. 5.5 crores.

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