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Central teams to visit flood-hit states: Patil
Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil has said the Centre will provide all necessary aid to Assam and Bihar to tide over the flood situation.
The Centre will be sending inter-ministerial teams to Assam and Bihar to make a detailed assessment of the flood situation which has affected nearly 1.5 crore people, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil informed Lok Sabha on Friday.
The teams are likely to visit flood-affected areas immediately after water has receded to an extent, Patil said in two separate statements giving detailed account of the prevailing situation.
While an allocation of Rs 81.80 crore in Calamity Relief Fund (CRF) including Rs 61.45 crore as Centre's contribution has been made for Bihar, Rs 116.68 crore would be made available to Assam to carry out relief operations, he said.
The Centre, he said, would provide all necessary assistance to the two states to tide over the flood situation which has claimed 32 lives in Bihar and 17 in Assam.
Describing the flood situation in Bihar as grim, Patil said 94.36 lakh people have been affected and 8.418 lakh hectares of crop area damaged.
In Assam, the total population affected by the floods is 50 lakh besides 4.68 lakh hectares of crop area being hit by the natural calamity. Twenty-four out of 27 districts in the state have been affected by floods.
Patil said a total of eight Army columns and 10 Air Force helicopters have been placed under Bihar government to carry out relief work. Similarly, 46 Army columns and seven helicopters have been sent to Assam.
The Health Ministry, Patil said, has despatched Central teams to the two states to advise them on action to be taken to prevent outbreak of epidemics.
The minister said Food Corporation of India (FCI) has been instructed to provide 50,000 metric tonnes of rice and wheat to Bihar.
The food department and Railway Ministry have stated that at least one month's supply of foodgrains were in possession of Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura and Nagaland, he said, adding the total stock in the Northeast is reported to be more that two lakh metric tonnes.
As much as 1.44 lakh metric tonnes of foodgrains were available with FCI in Assam, he said.
Efforts were being made on restoration of roads, bridges and embankments in the two states as also for distribution of medicines and fodder in flood-affected areas, Patil said.
