Heavy rain claimed 49 lives in August last week, 37,000 people rescued across state
Pandey said that while the 22 families have been paid Rs 4 lakh each as compensation as per norms, Rs 1.78 crore has been disbursed to the owners of 2,618 livestock that perished.
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A flooded locality following rise in the water level of Kim river, in Surat on Saturday. PTIHeavy downpour in August last week claimed 49 lives in Gujarat, damaged roads and caused floods, prompting the rescue of over 37,000 people by multiple agencies, including National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Army, State Relief Commissioner Alok Kumar Pandey said on Wednesday.
“A total of 49 deaths were reported between August 25 and 31 in Gujarat due to extremely heavy rainfall. While the kin of 22 of the deceased have been paid compensation worth Rs 88 lakh, the rest will be paid in a day or two. There is a delay as we are awaiting documents and postmortem reports,” he told mediapersons at Gandhinagar-based State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC).
Pandey said that while the 22 families have been paid Rs 4 lakh each as compensation as per norms, Rs 1.78 crore has been disbursed to the owners of 2,618 livestock that perished.
He added that surveys are being conducted by 1,120 teams in Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Anand, Kutch, Kheda, Gandhinagar, Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Narmada, Navsari, Porbandar, Morbi and Valsad districts to assess the damage. “A cash relief of Rs 8.04 crore has been disbursed to over 1.69 lakh people in these districts so far. To date, Rs 20.07 crore have been disbursed as household and clothing assistance to 50,111 affected families in these districts,” Pandey said.
“Assistance worth Rs 3.67 crore has been distributed to the owners of 4,673 affected houses and huts. The district administrations will continue to process further payments for the loss of household items and towards emergency cash relief as and when details regarding the number of affected families and people become available,” he added.
A deep depression triggered heavy to very heavy rainfall in several areas of Gujarat between August 25 to 30. The depression, formed over the Gujarat-Rajasthan border, gradually moved into the Arabian Sea (which later turned into cyclonic storm Asna), Pandey said.
He added that as of September 3, Rs 8.04 crore in cash has been disbursed to 1,69,561 people in the 14 districts. He said that due to heavy rainfall over the past two days in south and central Gujarat, survey operation is still in progress in several districts.
In the wake of the heavy rainfall, 17 teams of NDRF, 27 from the State Disaster Response Force, nine columns from the Army and additional teams of the Air Force and the Coast Guard were deployed, Pandey said. “These teams have successfully rescued 37,050 people and relocated 42,083 others to safer locations. Additionally, 53 people have been airlifted to safety.”
He added that heavy rain has damaged roads measuring 2,230 km, which will be repaired and made motorable in the next 10 days. “Out of 6,931 villages and 17 cities affected by rain-induced power outages, electricity has been restored in 6,927 villages and all the 17 cities. Work is going on a war footing to restore power in the remaining villages.”
Pandey further said that of the 88 sub-stations that were shut down as a precaution due to flooding, 86 have been reactivated. “The urban development department has allocated Rs 700 crore under the Mukhyamantri Sadak Yojana to municipal corporations for road repair and related works,” he said.
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