AP Rains: Be Compassionate Towards People's Needs, CM YS Jagan Tells District Collectors

Amaravati: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said the state government will come to rescue of the people hit by heavy rains and assured them all help. 

During a short discussion on “Agriculture Sector – Welfare of Ryoths” in Legislative Assembly here on Friday, the Chief Minister said he has directed the district collectors of Nellore, Chittoor and YSR districts to be liberal and compassionate towards the needs of the people. He said two naval helicopters were dispatched to Anantapur and YSR districts each for rescue operations and discussions are being held to press five more naval helicopters into service. 

The Chief Minister has expressed his deep condolences to the families of the people lost their lives due to heavy rains and directed the officials to provide them a compensation of Rs 5 lakh on war footing. He said teams were formed to access the damage to crops and added that crop enumeration will be done once the rains recede. He said seeds will be provided at 80% discount to ground nut farmers whose crops were damages to heavy rains in Chittoor, Anantapur and YSR districts and at 80% discount to paddy farmers in Nellore district. The Chief Minister assured that the crop loss of rabi season will be given in the same season before onset of kharif. 

Earlier, the Chief Minister held a review meeting with the district collectors of Nellore, Chittoor and YSR districts and alerted the officials to be vigilant. The State Government has appointed three special officers for Nellore, Chittoor and YSR districts each. Buditi Rajashekar has been appointed as special officer for Nellore, Pradhyumna for Chittoor and Shashi Bushan Kumar for YSR district, to monitor relief measures. The officials said the depression has crossed the Tamil Nadu coast triggering heavy rains in Nellore, Anantapur, Chittoor and YSR districts. 

The Chief Minister instructed the officials to provide Rs 2,000 to each family affected by floods and said the money will be useful to mend their houses. He directed the officials to provide quality food, safe drinking water and take measures to prevent spread of diseases. He instructed the officials to support pilgrims who stuck in Tirumala due to heavy rains. He instructed the officials to fix the ponds and restore power on war footing. 

Nellore district collector Chakradhar said there was heavy flood inflow for Somasila project. The Chief Minister directed the district collector to proceed with comprehensive strategy taking inflow and water capacity into consideration. He said to coordinate with Irrigation department officials in release of flood water and added to setup help desks at low laying areas. 

Rand B Principal Secretary M T Krishna Babu and Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Principal Secretary Gopala Krishna Dwivedi provided details on the damaged roads in the rain-hit districts. The Chief Minister directed the officials to take measures to fix damaged roads and take measures to prevent contamination of drinking water resources. He instructed the officials to check the quality of drinking water regularly and take appropriate measures to prevent diseases and also focus on sanitation. 

The Chief Minister instructed the officials to prepare the details of crop loss and ensure compensation is provided very soon. He said officials should be liberal while taking stock of the damage to crops and added to supply seeds to farmers to sow them again. He said call centers should be setup in districts and directed the officials to take immediate action on incoming requests and assured all sort of help. The Chief Minister said Deputy Chief Minister Amzath Basha has been monitoring relief measures in YSR district and Water Resources Minister Anil Kumar Yadav is being sent to Nellore to monitor the relief measures.