On October 15, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao held a high-level meeting and as part of a primary estimate, announced that the state has suffered a loss of Rs 5,000 crore due to heavy rains and flash floods. He had urged the Union government to release Rs 1,350 crore as part of relief measures. The CM wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard and mentioned that Rs 600 crore was required to extend relief to farmers and Rs 750 crore as an additional assistance for relief and rehabilitation measures in the limits of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and the other areas.
It's been a week now since the CM urged the PM for funds but the Union government is yet to announce a package for the state of Telangana. Krishank Manne, Social Media Convenor of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) claims that the Union government is showing a discriminatory behaviour to Telangana and other non-BJP ruled states.
Speaking to TNM, Krishank said, “The entire country is aware about how the state received extremely heavy rainfall and how it wreaked havoc across various districts. When BJP-ruled states like Gujarat and Karnataka were flooded, we saw the PM announce immediate relief to the people of the state. Other BJP-ruled states like Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Assam etc were also given relief during the floods that affected their state. Despite Kishan Reddy, the Minister of State (Home) being from Telangana, the Union government has not announced any package for the state as yet. This is very disappointing and we feel like the state is being ignored.”
Taking to Twitter, Krishank said that Karnataka was given Rs 1,869.85 crore while Madhya Pradesh was given Rs 1749.63 crore. Maharashtra, when it was being ruled by a BJP government, was given Rs 956.93 crore.
Please request Centre to release Funds @kishanreddybjp garu,
— krishanKTRS (@krishanKTRS) October 21, 2020
Till Date GoI hasn't released a penny yet as relief for #TelanganaRains or #HyderabadFloods whereas when it came to States wer BJP was in power Centre announced/released on emergency basis much before any assessment pic.twitter.com/iPJ5TQMSjL
While addressing a press conference in Delhi on Wednesday, Union Minister for Home G Kishan Reddy announced that a five-member team of officials would be deputed to Hyderabad and Telangana to assess the extent of damage due to the incessant rains. The team will then submit a report to the Union government.
Earlier this week, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had announced that the state government would extend help to people living in low-lying areas in Hyderabad, who were facing a lot of problems due to heavy rains and flash floods. The CM had also announced that the government would extend Rs 10,000 as an immediate relief to each household affected by the flood and people, whose houses were totally damaged, would be given an assistance of Rs 1 lakh each while families whose homes were partially damaged would be given Rs 50,000 each.
The CM also instructed officials to repair and restore all roads and other infrastructure facilities on a war-footing and ensure that life returns to normalcy at the earliest. The government had announced the immediate release of Rs 550 crore to the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department.
“Hyderabad has experienced heavy rain that it has never experienced in the last 100 years. Due to heavy rains and flash floods, people, especially the poor who live in slums in low-lying areas have suffered a lot. It is the primary responsibility of the government to help them. Hence, we have decided to extend Rs 10,000 help to each affected household of the poor in low-lying areas,” the CM had said.
The CM had also reminded all Ministers, MLAs, corporators, and the Mayor and Deputy Mayor in Hyderabad that helping the poor is their responsibility and urged them to actively participate in relief work.