UP CM conducts aerial survey of flood-hit areas

Gonda/Bahraich (UP): With rivers Saryu and Tapti emanating from Nepal inundating vast areas of Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday made an aerial survey of the affected areas and said the state government will pay Rs 4 lakh each to the families of those who died due to the floods.

The amount will be paid to those who died due to drowning or attack by animals, the chief minister said.

He further said farmers or sharecroppers losing life in inundation will get Rs five lakh each under the Farmers' Accidental Insurance scheme.

An assistance of Rs 95,000 will be given for houses damaged in the spate, he said, adding homes swayed away in the swirling flood waters are being repaired under the chief minister awas yojana.

The chief minister held an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas in Gonda, Bahraich and Balrampur districts and interacted with marooned citizens. He also distributed relief materials to some of the flood-affected people.

He said a total of 15 districts are hit by the deluge the third witnessed by the state this year.

Talking to reporters in Gonda, he said due to timely action of the state government, damage has been minimised this time in comparison to previous years.

The chief minister said dredging and channelising of Ghaghra river near Elgin bridge helped in averting the magnitude of damage due to flood waters in Gonda, Bahraich and Barabanki districts.

Trained personnel of NDRF and SDRF have been deployed in the flooded areas, he said.

Adityanath said in view of the possibility of attack by snakes and other dangerous animals, the state government has made comprehensive arrangements of anti-venom and anti-rabies injections in the hospitals.

He said the government has ordered officials to make an early assessment of damage due to flood so that ex-gratia could be provided to the people soon.

The chief minister instructed various departments to launch an integrated swachchta abhiyan' from September 5 to 12 to protect citizens from water-borne diseases. In Bahraich, he said, a senior IAS officer is being sent to every flood-hit district as a nodal officer and they have been told to camp there for four to five days for better coordination of relief and other measures.

Addressing a meeting of the flood-affected people at Razi chauraha in Maheshi areas of Bahraich, he said, "The flood situation is under control and to supervise relief and rehabilitation measures, I am visiting marooned areas." During his three-day visit to the flood-hit areas, Adityanath will also be making a trip of inundated areas of Siddharthnagar, Maharajganj and Gorakhpur.

Meanwhile, Commandant of Varanasi based 11th NDRF battalion Manoj Sharma said that while two teams are stationed in Gorakhpur, other flood-hit districts are helped by one team (comprising of about 50 personnel) of the force.

Every NDRF team is accompanied by four to five personnel possessing deep diving kits to plunge in the water to help the needy.

All the NDRF personnel on duty act as Medical First Responder (MFR) by providing immediate medical assistance. Besides, each team has nurses and paramedics.

The state government sources said 1,001 medical teams have been formed to provide relief to people and animals in the inundated areas.

Besides, 1,131 relief camps have been set up in marooned areas, and over 5,811 boats and 353 motor boats have been pressed into service, the sources said. So far, 1,07,608 dry ration kits, 4,21,834 lunch packets and 98,420 tarpaulins have been distributed, they said. They said 1,73,194 ORS packets and 15,63,873 chlorine tablets have been made available to the people.