— Photo: AP

SURAT OR SWIMMING POOL? Stranded residents reach out for food and water packets thrown by army personnel at Amrolli in Surat on Friday.

VADODARA: Even as the floodwaters have started receding in Surat, leaving behind mud, animal carcasses and rotting stuff, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced Central assistance of Rs.350 crore for relief operations in the State.

Talking to mediapersons at the Vadodara airport after an aerial survey of flood-ravaged Surat, Dr. Singh said the Centre would provide all necessary assistance for rebuilding Surat. He, however, did not say if the Surat floods would be declared a "national calamity."

Dr. Singh, who was accompanied by Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Minister of State in the PMO Prithviraj Singh Chauhan, said the package would be in addition to the Rs.150 crore assistance announced by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday.

About the State Government's demand for immediate Central assistance of Rs.2,000 crore, Dr. Singh said further aid would be decided after the estimate of damage and losses was available. A Central team would soon visit the State to assess the damage. He also announced Rs. one lakh each from the Prime Minister's Relief Fund to the next of kin of those killed.

Amount meagre: Modi

Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who was also present, expressed displeasure at the "meagre" Central help, saying the United Progressive Alliance Government was giving a "step-motherly treatment" to Gujarat.

Talking to mediapersons after Dr. Singh's departure for Delhi, he said Surat expected better treatment from the Centre. He estimated the damage throughout the State at Rs.21,000 crore, and in Surat at Rs.15,000 crore. Considering the heavy damage, the Prime Minister should have agreed to fulfil the State's demand for immediate assistance of Rs.2,000 crores.

Even as Surat limped back to normality, over 200 villages on the banks of the Mahi are facing threats of flash floods due to the heavy discharge of water from the Kadana and Vanakbori dams, following heavy rainfall in their catchment areas in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

"Red alert" issued

Revenue Minister Kaushik Patel said in Gandhinagar that a "red alert" had been issued in the villages and 20,000 people evacuated to safer places.

Mr. Patel said the Army and the police had been kept in a state of readiness. The swirling waters of the Mahi had entered fields and could spill over to villages in the Panchamahals, Vadodara, Kaira and Anand districts if the heavy discharge continued.

Urban Development Minister I.K. Jadeja, who said the worst-affected Adajan, Randher and Katargam localities in Surat were still reeling under floodwaters, claimed that the life had "returned to normality" in the remaining parts of the city.

Power supply restored

He put the death toll in Surat floods at 21 on the basis of the bodies recovered so far. He claimed that power supply had been restored in about 60 per cent of the city. Contrary to the Government's claims, those trapped in Surat have not been able to lay their hands on any relief material.

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