Floods have displaced millions, caused Rs.12.68 bn loss

By IANS

New Delhi : This year’s floods have been the worst ever in recent memory, claiming at least 1,258 lives and displacing over 31 million across 20 states and a union territory and causing damage to property worth Rs.12.68 billion since June.


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A comprehensive assessment by the ministry of home affairs says that during this year’s monsoon, apart from the loss of human lives, 68,160 livestock have perished. The heavy rains and floods have been described by the United Nations as the “worst flood in living memory”.

The floods affected crops over 2.1 million hectares of agricultural land, and damaged 592,427 houses, of which 131,754 were completely destroyed.

Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Orissa and West Bengal were the worst affected both in terms of lives lost and property damaged in the last fortnight.

“An amount of Rs.48.58 billion has been allocated to the states, comprising Rs.31.94 billion as central contribution and Rs.10.64 billion as the state contribution,” the ministry said Monday.

“The ministry of finance has released the first instalment of central share to 19 states amounting to Rs.12.92 billion,” it said.

On the request of the state governments, the second instalment of central share has been released in advance to Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Orissa have submitted a memoranda seeking additional financial assistance from the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF).

In Assam, the floods have displaced at least five million people, swamped 870,000 hectares of agricultural land and damaged 3,000 houses.

In Bihar, over 11.5 million people have been affected in nearly 5,000 villages across districts like Darbhanga, Sitamarhi, East Champaran and Madhubani.

The situation is grim too in West Bengal and Orissa where millions are still marooned and hundreds of villages submerged. In Uttar Pradesh, the situation is no better, with at least 140 people having died due to flood-related causes, and some 2,400 villages under water.

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