Andhra floods: Enumeration of losses to be completed today

Amaravati: Enumeration of losses due to the recent floods in seven districts of Andhra Pradesh will be completed on Friday.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has asked officials to complete the task enumeration by Friday evening.

He pulled up officials of various departments over the delay in completing the process. The Chief Minister asked if enumeration took so long when the victims would be compensated.

The Chief Minister held a review meeting with Ministers and officials on the enumeration of losses due to floods. He was unhappy with the officials for not providing relevant information about the losses. He asked officials why it took them so long to enumerate the losses when people in flood-affected areas faced hardships.

CM Naidu said only after the completion of the enumeration the details of losses can be sent to the Centre. He told officials that for the state government to get early assistance from the Centre, the estimates of the losses due to floods have to be submitted at the earliest.

An Inter-Ministerial Central Team on Thursday concluded a two-day visit to the flood-affected areas to assess the damages caused by heavy rain and floods early this month.

After visiting NTR, Krishna, Guntur and Bapatla districts, the team met Chief Minister Naidu, who urged them to ensure that the Central government extends liberal assistance. The Chief Minister told the team that it was a major calamity and all possible help should be provided by the Centre.

CM Naidu mentioned that Vijayawada and its surrounding areas were battered by a record 50 cm of rain in 48 hours and the resultant fury was unparalleled in the history of the Krishna Barrage.

The Chief Minister asserted that recovering from the disaster would be difficult if the Centre did not give a substantial relief package. He told the team that the flood was such a huge disaster that even Ministers and senior officials worked round the clock and food and medicines were delivered by drones like never before.

CM Naidu said he had camped at the NTR District Collector’s office in Vijayawada for 10 days to monitor the relief operations.

Heavy rain and floods claimed 46 lives and caused extensive property losses in the affected districts. More than 6.44 lakh people were affected by the calamity. Agriculture crops over 2.15 lakh hectares were damaged, affecting more than 2.70 lakh farmers. Horticulture crops over 19,735 hectares were also damaged.