The Hindu
Children coming out of inundated Ramalingeswara Colony in Vijayawada on
Sunday following heavy floods in River Krishna due to incessant rains.
Photo: V. Raju
Krishna district received 300 mm rainfall in five days, says Minister
The heavy rains that lashed Krishna district for the
last one week have resulted in a loss of Rs.683.49 crore, according to
Secondary Education Minister Kolusu Parthasarathy.
After
holding a review on Sunday of the damage caused by rains, the Minister
disclosed the details to mediapersons and said that the district had
received about 300 mm rainfall during last five days, while it was 404
mm during entire October. The agriculture sector, Roads and Buildings
(R&B) and Panchayatiraj roads, Vijayawada Municipal Corporation
(VMC) and other departments had suffered heavy losses.
The
paddy crop on 39,400 hectares, cotton on 31,000 hectares, and maize on
1800 hectares were damaged, he said. As much as 750 km length R&B
roads were damaged in the district. About Rs.20 crore was required for
temporary restoration of the R&B roads. It was estimated that Rs.
208 crore was required for permanent restoration of the roads.
The
VMC had incurred losses due to damaged roads, sewerage, drinking water
facilities etc. The Corporation required Rs.32 crore for permanent
restoration and Rs.3 crore for temporary restoration, he said.
It
was noticed that the bridges on canals were at low level obstructing
free flow of flood water. Traffic was disrupted and flood waters entered
the fields due to low level structures. Irrigation officials identified
18 such structures. The government would release funds if the
expenditure for necessary action for each structure was less than Rs.50
lakh, he said.
The Markfed was operating centres in
nine districts of Telangna for procurement of maize. As there were no
centres in the district, the Markfed was asked to open a centre at
Nuzvid, he said.
Referring to Neelam cyclone, the
Minister said that the farmers had suffered losses to the tune of Rs.13
crore. The government had released Rs.10 crore, but, the amount could
not be disbursed due to local body elections and strike that followed
the elections. The compensation would be disbursed to farmers within a
week, he added.
On electrocution at the
rehabilitation centre, Mr. Parthasarathy said that inquiry was going on.
Stringent action would be taken if any dereliction of duties was found.
The rehabilitation camps would be wounded up in view of receding
floods.
Stating that Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar
Reddy would stop at the Gannavaram airport after an aerial survey of
districts that suffered losses, the Minister said that a photo
exhibition was being organised at the airport and the Chief Minister
would review the damage caused by the rain.
Vijayawada
(West) MLA Velampalli Srinivas, Vijayawada (Central) MLA Malladi
Vishnu, and Vijayawada (East) MLA Yelamanchili Ravi were present.
