New Delhi: Assuring support to states hit by floods, the government on Wednesday said it will soon send a team of officials to assess the damage in Kerala and decide on the quantum of relief to be provided to the state.
Intervening in a discussion on flood and drought situation in the country, minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said the Centre would not discriminate against any state while providing funds to deal with these natural calamities.
"No state has been discriminated for funds. Rs 80 crore has already been released to Kerala to meet the immediate requirements.
"We have constituted an inter-ministerial team. They will visit Kerala soon and they will assess the quantum of damage and the high-level committee under the home minister will look into their report and decide on the quantum of assistance," he said.
Observing that disaster management was a priority for the government, he assured members that the Centre would provide all support to Kerala to deal with the flood devastation.
Responding to allegations of some members on non-release of funds, he said Rs 224 crore was released to West Bengal, Rs 294 crore to Tamil Nadu and Rs 120 crore to Karnataka.
Several members of the Lok Sabha from Kerala including K Venugopal (Congress), Suresh K (Congress) and N K Premchandran (RSP) demanded special financial package for the state to deal with the situation arising from heavy rain and flooding.
Terming the flood situation in Kerala as "severe", the opposition asked the government to declare the situation a natural calamity and provide funds for relief and rehabilitation beyond the NDRF stipulation.
Initiating the discussion, CPI(M) leader P Karunakaran said this was one of the worst floods in the history of Kerala and about 120 people have already lost their lives.
The intense rainfall has resulted in large scale devastation across various parts of the state and a relief package from the Centre was needed immediately, he said.
Given the serious nature of flood, he said, the Centre should declare this as a natural calamity and provide funds beyond what is due under the NDRF.
He expressed displeasure over not getting the due from the Centre after the devastation caused by the Okhi cyclone earlier.
Expressing the concern over the working of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), he said it needed to be strengthened so that it can help mitigate the damage.
K C Venugopal (Cong) said the people were staying in very pathetic situation at temporary shelters of flood affected areas of Kerala.
The government should intervene in the matter and provide concrete package to the state immediately, he said.
Besides, he said armed forces should be fully equipped to handled such situation.
Government should create a National Disaster Mitigation Fund, he said, adding there is also need to strengthen the IMD to provide early warning for natural disaster.
Raising issue of drought in Bihar, Sanjay Jaiswal (BJP) said the issue has to be addressed comprehensively.
He suggested that the House should discuss the issue of flood and drought in the winter session so that a policy can be worked out beforehand for the next year.
Veena Devi (LJP) also expressed concern over the drought- like situation in Bihar.
Kalyan Banerjee (TMC) accused the Centre of "step- brotherly" attitude towards West Bengal on granting assistance, despite the state being "seriously affected" by flood. He said flood is a "natural calamity" and a national problem and the Centre should release funds immediately.
Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo (BJD) said while flood or drought affected Odisha every year, there was "constant apathy" of the Centre and the farmers were not given their due share of funds.
He said the second Green Revolution was an "empty rhetoric" of the Narendra Modi government as it does not factor in eastern India.
Deo said the government has not been able to devise a plan to deal with erratic rainfall or impact of climate change on agriculture. He said insurance companies were also not releasing money under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.
A P Jithender Reddy (TRS) said the Centre should ensure that water is distributed judiciously as some states witness flood while others see drought.
K Geetha (YSR Congress) said the Polavaram project should be expedited at the earliest. She said nearly four lakh farmers have already migrated from Rayalseema area of Andhra Pradesh.
The others who spoke on the issue included Rajesh Ranjan (RJD), Arun Kumar (RLSP), Harish Dwivedi (BJP) and Dushyant Chautala (INLD).
