Rs 300 crore for flood-hit UP
India, Nepal to build bundhs

LUCKNOW, Sept 10 (UNI) — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today announced several schemes totalling Rs 300 crore for flood-affected Uttar Pradesh and said the country would form a joint strategy with Nepal to build bundhs on certain rivers causing recurring floods in the state.

Talking to newspersons soon after returning from a visit to the flood-hit areas of the state, the Prime Minister chose to use the mythological analogy of "pralaya" to describe the situation.

Mr Vajpayee reviewed the situation with Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, Governor Suraj Bhan and bureaucrats. He asked the state government to submit a memorandum indicating the extent of damage and assistance required. He said as soon as the information was received, the Centre would send two teams to study the damage in the eastern and western parts of the state.

Mr Vajpayee said the Centre was in touch with the Nepal Government for a joint strategy to build bundhs on rivers flowing in from Nepal.

Responding to the state government's demand for Rs 490 crore as immediate relief, Mr Vajpayee announced several schemes totalling Rs 300 crore for the state.

Floods have affected 55 of the 83 districts in the state where as many as 1,200 people have lost their lives.

The Prime Minister said during his visit to Durban for the NAM summit he had taken up the issue with the Nepal Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister, along with state Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, and Governor Suraj Bhan undertook an aerial survey of Gorakhpur, Deoria, Santkabir Nagar, Siddharthanagar, Basti, Maharaj Nagar and Kushinagar districts.

Mr Vajpayee interacted with a large number of victims in makeshift camps at Gorakhpur University. The victim narrated their tales of woe and complained about inadequate assistance.

Brushing aside the security cover, Mr Vajpayee mingled with the victims and assured them that the financial crunch would not come in the way of giving them quick relief.

Soon after his arrival at Gorakhpur airport, Mr Vajpayee was given an audio-visual recount of the flood havoc. Chief Secretary Yogendra Narain sought the immediate assistance of Rs 490 crore, saying that the state was facing a severe financial crunch after having undertaken massive flood relief operations.

The Prime Minister said under the Calamity Relief Fund, the first and second quarterly instalments of central share totalling Rs 52 crore had been released to the state. In addition, advance instalments of the third and fourth quarterly instalments was released last month. The entire central share of Rs 104 crore had been made available to the state.

Mr Vajpayee was informed that 24 lakh hectares in the state was affected by the floods, marooning 15,340 villages. The state government said that 14 lakh acres of agricultural land had come under flood waters and the crops totally damaged.

In order to provide assistance to the farmers whose crops had been affected by the floods, the state government should make use of the regular schemes of the Agriculture Department, the Prime Minister said.

Mr Vajpayee said a large number of houses were reported to have been damaged. Housing assistance was the top priority. He said HUDCO would assist the state government in opening centres in the affected areas at its own cost (up to Rs 25 lakh) for transfer of appropriate technology to combat the floods and for rendering technical assistance for repairing flood-damaged houses.

In fact, HUDCO had finalised a special development package for the current year, amounting to Rs 650 crore for housing and infrastructure.

For towns with a population of up to 5 lakh, funds were being provided for integrated development. During the current year, an amount of Rs 7.42 crore was proposed to be provided to UP. The state may utilise this fund for development of infrastructure specially in towns affected by floods.

Mr Vajpayee said there was an immediate need for employment generation programme in the flood-affected areas, particularly in the face of crop loss. "We have to ensure that funds are made available to the state government under various programmes of the Ministry of Rural Areas and Employment. The state is due to receive a balance amount of Rs 1000 crore during the rest of the year under different programmes. Under the employment assurance scheme, the state is to receive an amount of Rs 165 crore but if utilisation is speedy, the state government can have access to more funds".

Under the Indira Awas Yojana, which provided free housing in the rural areas for eligible households, allocations over and above the normal quantum would be provided to rebuild houses destroyed by natural calamities. He asked the Ministry of Rural Areas and Employment to immediately release Rs 200 crore under various programmes by waiving the requirement of submission of utilisation certificates. This would enable the state to immediately take up these programmes on a large scale in the affected areas.