Andhra rains: Seven-member team from Union govt to visit state to assess damage

The team will comprise officials from the Agriculture, Finance, Jal Shakti, Power, Road Transport and Highways and Rural Development ministries.
A man walks through a flooded road
A man walks through a flooded road
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A seven member central team will visit Andhra Pradesh for an on-the-spot assessment of the damage caused by the recent heavy rains and floods in the state. Based on the study, the inter-ministerial team, headed by Rakesh Kumar Singh, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, will also recommend whether the disaster in the state could be considered to be of a severe nature.

An official memo issued by the Disaster Management Division of the Ministry on Saturday asked the team to visit the state immediately and assess the damage and also the relief operations undertaken. The team will comprise officials from the Agriculture, Finance, Jal Shakti, Power, Road Transport and Highways and Rural Development ministries. These ministries have been requested to nominate officers familiar with the ongoing schemes and programmes to assist the team leader in their visit to the southern state by 4 pm on Monday.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy last week wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, requesting that the Union government immediately grant Rs 2,250 crore to the state that was battered by heavy rains and floods this month.

The Chief Minister said as per preliminary estimates, the state suffered damage to the tune of Rs 4,450 crore due to the deluge from October 9 to 13 and the consequent flooding. Roads and power installations suffered severe damage, while standing crops in thousands of acres were destroyed, the Chief Minister pointed out, adding that a total of 19 people were killed in rain-related incidents.

"We have suffered badly due to rains\floods in August and September and the fresh spell caused further damage. In this situation, the Union government should stand in support of the state. We urgently need at least Rs 1,000 crore as advance to take up relief works on a war-footing and restore normalcy," the Chief Minister said in the October 17 letter.

With IANS and PTI inputs

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