Central team to assess flood losses in Haryana: Hooda
By IANSTuesday, July 13, 2010
CHANDIGARH - Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda Tuesday said that a central government team would visit the flood-affected districts of the state within the next few days to assess the losses incurred.
“We have sought a financial assistance of over Rs.1,000 crore from the central government to compensate for the damage suffered due to floods. Ambala, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Fatehabad and Sirsa districts have suffered heavily due to floods. But now the overall situation is under control,” he said.
Hooda, who undertook an aerial survey of flood affected areas of Sirsa and Fatehabad districts, also talked to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over telephone and urged him to expedite the central assistance and release of funds for the flood-affected areas.
Large swathes of agriculture land were inundated and nearly a dozen villages submerged in Sirsa and Fatehabad districts due to breaches in the Ghaggar river.
“So far over 15,000 acres of land have been affected in Sirsa due to breaches at several places in Ghaggar river. Army has been requisitioned to assist the rescue and relief operations. As many as 17 villages of this district have been declared sensitive and nodal officers have been appointed there,” a government spokesperson said.
“However, water pressure in drains and rivers of Fatehabad has reduced to a large extent. People should not be afraid. The administration is fully geared up to tackle any kind of emergency,” the spoesman added.
According to official records, as many as 285,700 hectares of sown area, including 259,100 hectares under paddy and 26,600 hectares under fodder, have been damaged in flood-affected areas of Haryana.
Besides inspecting the breaches in the Ghaggar river, Haryana Irrigation Minister Ajay Singh Yadav Tuesday wrote a letter to his Punjab counterpart urging him to plug in the breaches at the earliest.
“Capacity of SYL (Satluj-Yamuna Link) canal is limited to about 6,200 cusecs and the diversion of large quantity of flood water into this canal, through the breaches in Punjab territory has resulted in heavy flood in different parts of Haryana,” he said.
According to officials, 33 people have died due to floods in Haryana and Punjab.
