Ex-gratia for flood victims’ kin increased

Hyderabad, Oct 5 :

 Chief Minister K Rosaiah on Monday announced an additional Rs 1 lakh ex gratia for the families of those who died in the floods in the state. This is in addition to the Rs one lakh already announced. Today’s announcement will take the total ex gratia to Rs 2 lakh for each family of the flood victims. Over 53 persons died in the rains and flood-related incidents so far in Kurnool, Mahabubnagar, Krishna, Guntur and Nalgonda districts, according to official figures. However, the death toll may rise in marooned areas.

He said that the government would also announce compensation for the houses—either fully or partially damaged in the flood affected areas. The compensation amount would be announced after evaluating the report from district collectors, he added. While replying to a discussion on flood relief operations in the state, the chief minister said his government had acted with utmost compassion and care in attending to the hardships of the flood-affected people.He rejected the opposition claim that the relief measures undertaken by the government were inadequate and insufficient.