Flood fury causes massive damage in Telangana

Hyderabad, Sep 8 (IANS) A week after devastating floods in parts of Telangana, people are grappling to come to terms even as the actual extent of damages is still unknown though the state government has put the initial estimate at Rs 5,438 crore.

Picking up threads of a tattered life, people in the worst-affected Khammam, Mahabubabad and adjoining districts are looking towards the state and Central governments to extend a helping hand to make a fresh beginning.

After losing houses, all household goods, crops, cattle and other sources of income, all sections of people are facing the daunting task of rebuilding life after the disaster.

From farmers to business persons and from housewives to students every section has suffered immensely as heavy rain and floods left a trail of destruction.

People, whose houses were inundated in Khammam town and villages in the affected districts, are finding it nearly impossible to salvage their belongings. The affected families say from utensils to clothes and electrical items to electronic products, everything was destroyed by floods and mud which entered houses with flood water.

The affected families have lost their key documents, including ration cards, Aadhaar cards and educational certificates.

Farmers have not only lost standing crops but sand, silt and debris piled up in farmlands rendering the soil unfit for cultivation. The biggest challenge before them is how to make their fields cultivable once again.

With the death of hundreds of cattle, dairy farmers have lost their livelihood while fishermen suffered huge losses as fish got washed away with the breaches in dozens of lakes, tanks and other water bodies.

The floods triggered on September 1 by unprecedented rainfall of up to 40 centimetres led to the death of 26 people in the united Khammam, Warangal and Mahabubnagar districts. Thousands of people were affected.

While the loss of human lives was not big in terms of numbers, the losses to property and infrastructure are colossal.

Crops have been damaged in about five lakhs of acres, canals and ponds breached, bridges, roads and railway tracks were washed away and electric sub-stations and electric poles were damaged,

The state government has pegged the losses at Rs 5,438 crore as per the initial estimate. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy told Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan after the latter’s visit to the flood-hit areas that the departments are busy collecting the details of the actual damages at the field level.

The roads under the Roads and Buildings Department have suffered damages to the tune of Rs 2,362 crore. The damage to electrical installations is estimated at Rs 175 crore. The crop loss on 4.15 lakh acres is estimated at Rs 415 crore.

Irrigation tanks suffered damages to the tune of Rs 629 crore. Panchayati Raj & Rural Development, including rural water supply, suffered losses of Rs 170 crore. The losses to the Municipal Administration department are estimated at Rs 1,150 crore.The state government has sought Rs 2,000 crore from the Centre as immediate assistance, including for temporary repairs of breached lakes, damaged roads, dams and bridges. It also urged the Centre to relax the guidelines pertaining to the release of the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for states.

The Chief Minister requested the Centre to enhance the unit rate for permanent restoration works. The state would require at least Rs 60 crore for the repair and restoration of tanks and lakes, but the applicable rates at present would not permit the release of even Rs 4 crore.Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) is also visiting affected areas to make an on-the-spot assessment of the damage caused by the floods.

The state government has already started distributing Rs 10,000 as an immediate relief to every flood-affected family. In Khammam district alone, 22,000 families were affected.At least 15 residential areas along the Munneru Rivulet in Khammam district were flooded, causing huge damage to houses.After a visit to flood-hit areas, the Chief Minister promised a compensation of Rs 10,000 per acre for the damage to crops.The state government stated that ex-gratia for families of flood victims has been enhanced to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 4 lakh earlier.

The compensation for cattle loss has also been enhanced to Rs 50,000 from Rs 30,000. For sheep and goats, it is increased from Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000.

As many as 26,592 cattle died in heavy rain and floods. The Animal Husbandry Department has estimated the loss to be nearly Rs 2 crore.

The Chief Minister had announced Rs 5 crore assistance each to Khammam, Mahabubabad, Suryapet and Bhadradri Kothagudem for immediate relief measures.Minister for Irrigation N. Uttam Kumar Reddy announced that partially damaged houses would be given Rs 10,000 each and for those whose houses were completely damaged new houses would be sanctioned under the Indiramma housing scheme.