The government today said 196 persons have lost their lives so far due to floods in five states. Over two thousand cattle heads have perished and more than 38 thousand houses have been damaged. Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju informed the Rajya Sabha that 0.357 lakh hectares of crop area have been affected due to heavy rains. Making a statement in response to a Calling Attention notice on the flood situation in parts of the country, Mr Rijiju said 42 districts remained severely affected. <br/><br/>The Minister said 8,938 crore rupees has been allocated as central share to all the states in their SDRF accounts for 2016-17. Out of this, 3,431 crore rupees has so far been released as the first instalment of Central share of SDRF to 20 states. Mr Rijiju said his ministry has deployed 64 specialized teams of NDRF in 24 states and union territories with 207 boats. He said pre-positioning of the NDRF teams has already been done at 32 different locations in the country. Mr Rijiju said that Prime Minister has reviewed the flood preparedness of the nation on 29th of June. A U Singh Deo of Biju Janata Dal wanted to know the steps taken by the centre to stop soil erosion. Viplove Thakur of the Congress said central teams should be sent to affected areas immediately and the government should ensure timely relief to the affected people. D Raja of the CPI underlined the need for water management policy.
News On AIR | July 19, 2016 4:42 PM
196 persons lose their lives due to floods in five states, says Govt.