Need To Set Specific Criteria For Flood Relief Funds

Posted by Chandrakant Dada Patil on September 11th, 2019

The floods have extremely affected southern and Konkan belt of Maharashtra during the month of August. To normalise the conditions in flood-hit areas, the State Government is undertaking different flood relief measures. During this situation, Revenue Minister of Maharashtra Honourable Mr Chandrakant Dada Patil explained the State Government’s initiatives to provide adequate funds to flood-affected areas and he also conducted a successful meeting with the Central Government Inspection panel for this matter. 

BJP Chief of Maharashtra, Honourable Mr Chandrakant Dada Patil informed that the State Government will convince the Central Government Authorities regarding the funds for flood relief measures. For this purpose, the Central Government’s panel will visit this area to assess the condition for further decision. With this regard, the State Government has already sent the first memorandum of Rs 6800 Crore funds to help flood-affected regions. Now, the Central Panel will inspect the conditions and thereafter, the next detailed memorandum will be presented to the Central Government. 

For this, Shri Chandrakant Dada Patil conducted the meeting with Central Government panel members at Sahyadri Guest House, Mumbai. This meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Mr Ajoy Mehta and other secretaries of different departments. During this meeting, all members presented their significant observations and suggestions.  

During this meeting, Mr Chandrakant Dada Patil informed that a panel consisting of seven members has arrived for flood-affected area inspection. Now, their plan is to visit Sangli, Satara, Kolhapur, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Raigad, Thane and Palghar districts. This panel is led by National Disaster Management Board’s Deputy Secretary Dr V Thiruppugaz and other officials including Power, Water Management, Road Transportation, Agriculture, Rural Development, and Finance Department’s Central Authority. During this meeting Revenue Minister, Mr Chandrakant Patil suggested that while offering funds to flood-affected areas, specific criteria should be considered depending on the affected people and severity of calamity in an area and its impact on the people. In fact, natural calamity has not only affected the farms, but it has also affected fundamental facilities in flood-affected areas. Unfortunately, this loss is not compensable in just one year, but it will take two to three years to normalise the conditions in the flood-affected areas. 

During this meeting, the Chief Secretary informed that the rain was 10 times more than the regular conditions; it was a sudden natural calamity which did not allow enough time for warning people.  Fortunately, the system could get success in rescuing 7 Lakhs citizens who were trapped in the floods. There should be a change in NDRF criteria, for NDRF panels which implement rescue operations for flood condition. 

The Chief Secretary further added that Kolhapur, Sangli districts are based on the agricultural economy and it is suffering the extreme losses with reference to farms and other crops. Therefore, while offering monetary help to the flood-affected farmers, there should be a specific criterion for different crops such as sugarcane and grapes instead of one generic criterion. He also mentioned that another identity of Kolhapur district is milk and milk product industries which is an important supplementary business in Kolhapur. This business is mainly run by women. Therefore, while offering funds aid, this point also should be considered. 

While concluding, the Chief Secretary also explained the need for funds for other necessities. The flood conditions have badly affected urban areas in the belt. People who have small businesses or those who run small roadside shops, transport options, etc. should be supported with adequate help to reset their businesses. The government is also planning to set up bridges and heightened roads in flood-affected villages. Another plan is to transfer the families from the river boundary line to other locations where they should be provided with proper houses at safe locations. All these plans need massive fund amounts and their proper implementation. 

In short, it can be concluded that the meeting conducted for Central Government’s fund availability for flood relief measures was highly fruitful due to studious observations of panel members and Ministers. Revenue Minister Honourable Mr Chandrakant Dada Patil who also happens to be the Guardian Minister of Kolhapur district raised an important point of setting specific criteria for the distribution of flood relief funds. Fortunately, his point was also supported by Chief Secretary and the latter presented its need with different examples. Hopefully, the Central Government panel understands the urge of monetary funds for flood-affected areas of Maharashtra and accordingly, necessary action will be taken by the Central Government as early as possible. 

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Chandrakant Dada Patil

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Chandrakant Dada Patil
Joined: August 22nd, 2019
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