Centre tells T and AP to use 3.8k cr SDRF for flood relief

Hyderabad: Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday said the central govt is working to provide Telangana and Andhra Pradesh immediate assistance of Rs 3,884 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) which is already with the state and includes the Centre's share, as per a release from the press information bureau (PIB).The Telangana govt's preliminary assessment has pegged the flood loss at over Rs 5,000 croreRecently, Union coal minister G Kishan Reddy too had said that Telangana govt had Rs 1,045 crore SDRF funds with it which could be utilised to take up relief work and the state need not wait for central assistance. The SDRF constituted under Section 48 (1) (a) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, is the primary fund available with state govts for responses to notified disasters.With Chouhan stressing on SDRF utilisation for now, any further central financial grant to the two states will depend on the report submitted by an inter-ministerial team of the Union home ministry after its survey of rain-affected areas. The Union home ministry on Friday posted on X that a inter-ministerial team had been constituted and will visit the flood-hit areas soon.Chouhan conducted an aerial and ground survey of flood-affected areas in Khammam and Suryapet districts in Telangana on Friday and various places in Andhra Pradesh earlier. He said the central govt was working to provide immediate help.Chouhan said the Centre will also look into making fertilisers and seeds available to farmers for the next crop. He assured farmers of appropriate compensation after assessment of crop damage. "We will ask banks not to recover loans from farmers in times of crisis. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is concerned about the flood situation in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, " Chouhan said.On Friday, chief minister A Revanth Reddy also held a joint review with Chouhan at the Secretariat and urged him to extend flood relief to Telangana on a par with Andhra Pradesh, pointing out that Khammam and Mahabubabad districts of Telangana, which border Andhra Pradesh, had suffered huge damages like in AP.The CM informed Chouhan that Telangana had incurred a loss of Rs 5,438 crore as per state's initial estimates. Revanth gave a PowerPoint presentation on the damages and said Rs 10,000 was being disbursed as immediate relief to every flood-affected family. Crops in thousands of acres were damaged, he said."Give some relaxation in existing rules in release of disaster funds to states. Until 2021, states were entitled to spend NDRF funds after 50% of SDRF funds were utilised. But the new guidelines allow states to utilise NDRF funds only after spending 100% of SDRF funds. Please bring back previous guidelines," the CM urged Chouhan.The CM also told him to increase the prescribed unit prices for every work for immediate and permanent repairs. At least Rs 60 crore was required for immediate repairs of water bodies but as per the present fixed rates, the state will not get more than Rs 4 crore, he pointed out to Chouhan.