Unprecedented floods inundated the low-lying areas of Srinagar city and other parts of the Valley on September 8 last. Damage caused to houses and properties was massive though fortunately there were not many human casualties. The Government was taken by surprise and the State Disaster Management Authority was caught napping. Even if it were not napping, it would have done almost nothing for the bare reason that it has no requisite paraphernalia at is command nor did it ever prepare itself to meet natural calamities. The Prime Minister flew in and went on aerial survey of the devastation caused by the flood. He announced one thousand crore rupees relief assistance on spot and promised that funds for rehabilitating the uprooted people would not be wanting. The then State Government sent in a proposal of 41,000 crore rupees for meeting the full damages to private and public property. This proposal is under the consideration of the Home Ministry and is being implemented by parts.
What the then Government did to meet the challenge is not the subject we intend to open for discussion. But unfortunately some voices were raised from some political circles in the State that the Central Government was not sensitive to the suffering of the people. Some accused it of being close-fisted and unwilling to provide adequate funds. Some negative political campaigning during the assembly elections tried to hammer this as a negative point against Modi Government in the Centre. All these wild accusations were politically motivated. Let us remind them that a number of influential leaders and social activists in Kashmir urged the Central Government very strongly to disburse relief aid through the National Disaster Management Authority and not through State administration in which they had no trust. There was huge variance between the damage estimates made by the State Government and those made by the NDMA. How was the Union Home Ministry to resolve this confusion? After all relief comes under State List and the Centre was reluctant to handle it. In-depth study revealed that only meticulous reassessment of the losses suffered could clear the picture. It was undertaken and the Home Ministry was able to take a decision. In the meanwhile, the Governor, eager to bring succour to flood victims, took up the matter with the Centre.
In all there are 30,933 severely damaged pucca houses and 93,024 partially damaged houses that are entitled to receive relief. 1.87 lakh people will be benefited from the amount that has been sanctioned by way of relief. It has been agreed that financial relief will be distributed through NDMA, who would finalize the data of admissible beneficiaries in consultation with the State Government and transfer the assistance directly to the existing bank accounts of the beneficiaries or through the newly opened Aadhar linked Jan Dhan Yojna accounts. It will be noted that Rs 115.81 crore PMNRF relief support has already been disbursed among 16748 beneficiaries in respect of fully damaged pucca and kacha houses in pursuance of the announcement made by Prime Minister when he had visited Srinagar on Diwali day. It was clarified that the PMNRF assistance now approved by the PM will be in addition to Rs 12,600 and Rs 3,800 already paid to the affected owners as per the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) norms.
Now that these figures and details about the financial assistance provided by the Centre are made public, it will be clear to one and all that doubts and misunderstandings created about the intentions of the Centre not serious about providing relief to the affected persons are baseless. On receiving the green signal from New Delhi, the Governor has issued instructions to the Divisional Commissioners to go ahead with the disbursement of relief under the State Disaster Management Authority norms for the interim period till funds from the Centre are received. With the Governments at the Centre and in the State addressing the issue earnestly, we hope that the suffering of the people will come to an end. They will have a shelter and will resume their normal life.
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