Central team to visit Andhra Pradesh to assess flood damage

File Photo (IANS)

New Delhi: A central inter-ministerial team will visit Andhra Pradesh later this month to assess the damage to crops and property due to devastating floods in the state.

The team consisting of officials from the Home Ministry`s Disaster Management Division, Agriculture, Finance (Department of Expenditure), Jal Shakti (Department of Water Resources), Power, Road Transport and Highways and Rural Development Ministries will recommend allocation of additional funds.

The team will also suggest to the Home Ministry through its assessment report whether the disaster can be considered "severe" in nature.

The Secretaries of all the central government departments have been asked to provide details of allocations, the release of funds and expenditure incurred during 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20, under various schemes and programmes implemented by them in Andhra Pradesh.

The Andhra Pradesh government has been asked to file copies of the final memorandum as per the guidelines circulated by the Home Ministry, mentioning sector-wise damage caused by the floods during 2020 along with an explanation on the requirement of funds.

The Centre`s move followed a request by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy through a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah to urge for a central team`s visit to enumerate the losses caused by torrential rains and subsequent floods. In his letter, Reddy had sought Rs 1,000 crore as immediate flood relief.