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Narendra Modi announces Rs 500 crore for flood-hit Gujarat after aerial survey

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced Rs 500 crore for Gujarat for rescue work after an aerial survey of the flooded areas and Rs 2 lakh compensation to the kin of the 83 people who have died and Rs 50,000 to the injured.

Modi, who flew over Banaskantha, Sabarkantha and Patan districts of North Gujarat, said a team of the union Urban Development and Rural Development Ministries would visit the state to assess the extent of damage and suggest short-term as well as long-term measures.

Modi told reporters at the Ahmedabad airport: “In such situations, it is the farmers who suffer the most. Insurance companies may be advised to quickly organise assessment of damage to crops and assets of farmers and initiate immediate steps to settle the claims.”

Modi was accompanied by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel during the aerial survey.

After holding a high-level meeting with Rupani and Patel, besides former Chief Minister Anandiben Patel and officials, Modi praised the Gujarat government for “rising to the occasion promptly and having already prepared a blueprint for the crisis”.

The north Gujarat districts of Banaskantha, Sabarkantha and Patan have been flooded after incessant rains during the last 36 hours.

Tharad town has received maximum rainfall of 24 inches, followed by Dhanera 20 inches, Dantiwada 18, Palanpur 15, Deesa and Diyodar 13 inches each, Patan 12 inches and Vadgam about 11 inches.

The region has got 95 per cent of its seasonal average of 659 mm.

In all, entire Gujarat has registered 534 mm of rain, which is 66 per cent of its total usual seasonal average of 810 mm. “As many as three persons have lost their lives in last 24 hours in Banaskantha district,” Patel said.

As many as 46,000 people have been moved to safety in Banaskantha district till Tuesday evening even as 1,000 persons have been rescued.

A total of 472 villages in the district are without electricity, with six national highways, 61 other roads and 287 panchayat roads closed for vehicular traffic.

Seventeen trains passing through the region to Delhi and north India have been cancelled, six terminated midway and two trains diverted. Over 300 buses too have been cancelled.

The Army, IAF, NDRF, police and fire brigade are engaged in rescuing people from flooded areas.

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