'Central relief inadequate'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JULY 25. Inadequate Central relief to states ravaged by floods was prominently raised during Special Mentions in the Rajya Sabha today. Mr. V. V. Raghavan (CPI) urged the Centre to recommence funding for constructing walls along the coast which, he said, was the only long-term solution to the serious problem of erosion of land by the sea.

Of the 560-km-long Kerala coastline, `sea walls' had been built along 350 kms with financial assistance by the Centre. However, funding was discontinued in the early 90s. The State Government then requested the Centre to resume funding and submitted a project report.

A team of Central Water Commission made an inspection and, based on its findings, a revised report proposing construction of 67 kms of new walls and rehabilitation of 58 kms of existing walls was submitted to the Centre. Mr. Raghavan requested the Centre to release the Rs. 260 crores required for the purpose as it was the only lasting solution to erosion of the coastline.

In another special mention, Mr. N. K. Premachandran (RSP), also raised the issue of erosion of the coastline as well as the general devastation in Kerala, including the loss of over 100 lives due to the South-West monsoon.

Alleging inadequate Central relief, Mr. Premachandran said that it was a clear case of discrimination by the Centre

Orissa floods was raised by Mr. Ramachandra Khuntia (Cong.) who called for a special project for the clearance of river beds. A large number of rivers had breached embankments because of silting and callousness of the Irrigation Department.

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