As many as 16 people who were washed away in the recent floods in Kadapa district on Andhra Pradesh were still missing while the state government said on Friday that another 44 were killed in the deluge.
Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy made a suo moto statement in the state Assembly on the floods and the subsequent relief measures undertaken by the state government. He said an ex gratia of Rs five lakh each was paid not only to the kin of the deceased, but also to those of the missing persons.
He said for each of the 1,169 houses fully damaged in the floods, Rs 95,100 was paid as compensation. Besides, a new house at a cost of Rs 1.80 lakh would be constructed for each of those families. For partially damaged houses, Rs 5,200 each was paid as compensation.
Heavy rains that began on November 16 in SPS Nellore, Kadapa, Chittoor and Anantapuramu districts wreaked havoc on an unprecedented scale, the Chief Minister pointed out.
"It rained as if the sky burst open, resulting in this devastation. Small reservoirs like Pincha and Annamayya in Kadapa district discharged water three times their carrying capacity. All this happened in a span of 2-3 hours," Jagan pointed out, rebutting criticism that the floods, particularly in his native Kadapa district, were a "man-made disaster".
He said 400 families in villages downstream Annamayya project were moved to elevated places and 900 people were accommodated in relief camps on the night of November 18.
"Annamayya project breached at 6.30 am on November 19. The district administration worked constantly on November 18 and saved the lives of thousands of people. But still some people are slinging mud on us with a political motive," Jagan lamented.
The Chief Minister said a high-level committee headed by the Chief Secretary would be constituted to study the existing capacities of all reservoirs across the state and suggest concrete measures for strengthening each of them so as to prevent such calamities in future.
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