Andhra Pradesh suffers loss of 3,759.97 crore rupees due to rains: Chandrababu Naidu

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu told a Central team that the state has suffered a loss of 3,759.97 crore rupees due to rains. He called for assistance from the Centre to restore normalcy. Explaining the extent of damage due to unseasonal rains in Nellore, Chittoor and Kadapa districts, Mr. Naidu said the rainfall was 6-11 times higher than the normal. The Central teams to assess the rain related and drought related losses in the State called on the Chief Minister in his camp office in Vijayawada Friday after completing their assessments. In an official release, the government said agriculture incurred a loss of 426.94 crore rupees, horticulture 335.27 crore rupees, animal husbandry 17.97 crore rupees and handicrafts, textile industries 4.77 crore rupees. Water resources incurred a loss of 818.29 crore rupees, roads and buildings 711.9 crore rupees, electricity department 35.05 crore rupees, Panchayat Raj and Municipal and Urban Development Department 589.54 crore rupees. Over 6,507 pucca houses and 17,089 huts were damaged due to the rains. The Chief Minister informed the Central team that over 1.25 lakh people were shifted to relief camps and were provided free food and water packets to the affected people and over 12,000 bed sheets were supplied to the relief camps. He told the members of the Central team that 25kg of rice, 1kg of dal, 1kg of sugar and 1kg of cooking oil were distributed to each family. 2,000 rupees have been given to each family whose house has been washed away. Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh government in its report to the Inter-ministerial Central team on the prevailing drought conditions in the state, has requested 2,000.56 crore rupees to make the state 'drought-proof'. Mr. Naidu said the government had declared 399 out of 670 mandals as drought-hit and over five lakh hectares of farmland has become uncultivable during the Kharif season. Listing out the measures taken by government for mitigating the impact of drought, Mr. Naidu said alternative crops were being encouraged by distributing seeds on 50 per cent subsidy and the number of days of wage employment under the NREGS was increased to 150 days. Drinking water was being supplied through tankers. Edible oils and pulses were sold under the Public Distribution System at discounted prices.