NEW DELHI: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday claimed that the Centre has been extending all the requisite and timely assistance to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for flood relief and rescue efforts and an inter-ministerial central team would soon be visiting the affected areas in both the states.Senior official of the MHA said that an inter-ministerial team would make an on-the-spot assessment of the damage.Giving details of the measures taken by the Centre, Additional Secretary in the MHA Sanjeev Kumar Jindal said 26 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), eight helicopters of the Indian Air Force (IAF), three helicopters and one Dornier aircraft of the Indian Navy have been mobilised in Andhra Pradesh for rescue and relief operations.Similarly, seven teams of the NDRF, and two helicopters of the IAF have also been mobilised in Telangana, the officer added.“The central government has been extending all the requisite and timely assistance to the state governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the relief and rescue efforts,” Jindal said in a statement issued by the MHA.The officer said that on the night of September 1, when flood affected many areas, additional NDRF teams and IAF helicopters were mobilised to assist the state governments in relief and rescue efforts on the direction of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.“On the directions of the Home Minister, a central team of experts has been deputed for Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) to make an on-the-spot assessment of flood management, reservoir management, issues of dam safety and making recommendations for immediate relief from the flood,” Jindal said.Giving the details of measures already taken to rescue affected people, Jindal said, the NDRF teams, so far, have rescued 350 persons and evacuated about 15,000 others in Andhra Pradesh and have rescued 68 and evacuated about 3,200 others in Telangana.The officer said the inter-ministerial central team has already been constituted and it will visit the flood-affected areas in both states shortly to make an on-the-spot assessment of the damage. The team will make its recommendations to the MHA for additional financial assistance from the National Disaster Response Fund.The IAF and Navy helicopters have carried out 65 sorties and around 71,000 kilograms of food and relief material have been dropped for affected population in Andhra Pradesh, the MHA said, adding that the director general of the NDRF also visited Andhra Pradesh on September 2-3 to supervise rescue and relief operations.The rains and floods engulfed several districts in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana since last weekend, as the deluge has claimed 32 lives so far in Andhra Pradesh.
Source link
