Vijayawada

Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday told the inter-Ministerial Central team, which visited the flood-hit areas in Chittoor, Kadapa and Nellore districts, that the State government planned to install an automatic water gauging system and to increase the discharge capacity of canals as long-term measures required to combat climate change and its impact.

In a meeting with the Central team, which was led by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) adviser Kunal Satyarthi, at his camp office, Mr. Jagan sought an ad hoc replenishment of the State Disaster Response Force funds, which had depleted over the years, as resources were needed to carry out relief and rehabilitation (R&R) works on such a large scale as in the present instance.

The Chief Minister requested the Central team to be compassionate and humanitarian in their approach to extending financial assistance to the State so that it could do its best to the people, particularly farmers, who were hit hard by the floods.

He pointed out that e-cropping was being extensively implemented and there was a Rythu Bharosa Kendra in every village. It was a robust system at the grassroot level, which the Central team could rely upon for assessing the damages caused by heavy rains and the consequential flooding, Mr. Jagan asserted.

‘Classic flood’

Presenting an overview of the disaster, Mr. Satyarthi said he would define it as a “classic flood” in the context of the floods experienced in Assam, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and suggested that the governments should gear up to tackle more such adverse events which were apparently due to the major global shifts in temperatures and weather patterns.

He observed that the river systems in the semi-arid Rayalaseema region were not prepared to get such massive quantities of water, which was a phenomenon of ‘non-water areas’ receiving water beyond their carrying capacity.

There was widespread damage to agricultural fields and infrastructure up to 3 km on both sides of rivers, Mr. Satyarthi said, adding that he was concerned with the loss of lives, especially in Kadapa district.

The Central team comprised Abhay Kumar, Anil Kumar Singh, K. Manoharan, Sivani Sharma and Sravan Kumar Singh.

Directive to oficials

Meanwhile, in a video-conference with Collectors of Anantapur, Chittoor, Kadapa and Nellore districts on the fresh spell of rains, Mr. Jagan said the officials should do all that is possible to mitigate the woes of the people, who were still reeling under the impact of the rains that pounded the parched region between November 6 and 19.

He enquired about the relief works which were in progress and ordered that due focus be laid on compensating the loss incurred by farmers across the backward region.