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Nitish Kumar holds meet to assess floods, asks for quick survey of crop loss
The Bihar chief minister also directed the animal husbandry and fisheries department to do their assessment so that assistance could reached those affected by the floods in the state.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday held a high-level meeting to review the flood situation and drought in the state and directed government officials to provide compensation to the farmers for crop losses after proper assessment.
The CM said that the agriculture department, disaster management department and the concerned district magistrates should carry out panchayat-wise assessment, including those farmers who could not do any sowing due to early floods, so that assistance could reach all those affected by floods. “The assessment should be completed in 3-4 days. After that the ministers’ in-charge of the concerned districts will sit with the DMs to give it final shape,” he added.
He also asked for an assessment of those districts, which have received less rainfall. Though technically none of the Bihar districts has so far been declared drought-hit this year, the impact of floods has been unprecedented, with crops on over five-lakh hectares damaged.
The CM also pointed to the extensive damage due to floods, which has affected nearly 70-lakh population spread across 26 districts, and asked the water resources department for a comprehensive long-term plan for a permanent solution to the problem, which hits Bihar every year.
The Bihar chief minister also directed the animal husbandry and fisheries department to do their assessment so that assistance could reached those affected by the floods in the state. All the DMs of the flood-affected districts, the ministers and officials of different departments were present at the meeting, which went on for over five hours.
The review meeting was called after a central team’s visit to take stock of the flood situation and damage caused. The team, which visited the state on Monday, returned on Tuesday evening after doing an aerial survey of Darbhanga, Bhagalpur and adjoining areas and holding talks with government officials.
During the meeting, a power point presentation was also made to throw light on the situation, relief and rehabilitation measures initiated and how the state had to face floods in three phases this year, starting from June 13. The government claimed to have distributed relief worth ₹477.32-crore among 795538 families, while the remaining would receive it by September 25.
