W Bengal demands over Rs 1000 cr for flood relief

He said that a meeting had been scheduled on October nine with the Union finance Minister in the capital where the Union agricultural minister would also be present.

Talking about the flood situation in the state, Dasgupta said that although there had been an overall improvement, the condition of North 24-Parganas was still critical. While the water level in Gaighata, Bagdah, and Swarupnagar was receding, the flood situation in Deganga continued to deteriorate.

A total of 171 blocks in the state had been affected including 69 municipalities, Dasgupta said. The official death toll had been put at 1,097 with 103 persons missing, the Minister said, adding that nearly 2.10 crore people had been affected due to floods.

The Chief Minister, Jyoti Basu, has urged the Prime Minister to treat this disaster as National calamity and to provide an extra assistance of Rs 962 crore outside budgetary provisions.

Basu had also sent a copy of the resolution adopted by all political parties in view of the flood situation to the Prime Minister.

The Minister said that the state government had already incurred a cumulative expenditure of Rs 180 crore towards providing flood relief, adding that greater importance had been attached in regard to public health in the flood-ravaged districts.

He said that water was being distributed in pouches and the state government was now purchasing halogen tablets from the Centre. To cope up with the increased demand for tarpaulin, Dasgupta said, the state government had made an advance of Rs five crore to state-owned IPCL for raising supplies of the material.

To compensate for the crop loss caused by floods, the state government had taken steps to raise rabi cultivation by about 20 per cent. Towards this, an amount of Rs 31.5 crore would be given as grant for procuring high-quality seeds and power tillers. To assist the weavers, the government would also provide Rs 20 crore as grant, the Minister said.

The Minister also said that the high tide due on Monday would not increase the water level. However, it would decrease receding rate of the water level, he said.

Flood relief worth Rs 70 lakh was despatched yesterday by Southern Health Improvement Samiti to the Nadia and Murshidabad districts.