Assuring the people that the government would always be by their side in times of crisis, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath conducted an aerial survey of flood-affected areas of Siddharthnagar and Maharajganj districts on Saturday.
“No one should feel neglected in the state as the government is with you in difficult times. We have full sympathy with you and this is the reason I have come here to provide you with immediate relief,” the chief minister said while addressing media persons in Maharajganj where he surveyed the flood-hit villages of Sadar and Farenda tehsils.
The chief minister is on a three-day extensive tour of six flood-affected districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh to take stock of the situation and review the facilities and relief being provided to the affected people. On Friday, the chief minister had made an aerial survey of flood-hit villages in Bahraich, Gonda and Balrampur while on Saturday, he flew over villages of Maharajganj, Siddharthnagar and Gorakhpur districts.
Ensuring that adequate ration was being provided in the flood-affected areas in Siddharthnagar, Yogi said: “We have set up community kitchens to provide food in those areas where flood waters have entered the houses. Our public representatives are constantly in contact with the administration to carry out relief operations.”
With eight rivers in Uttar Pradesh flowing above the danger mark, the chief minister has appointed nodal officers in all 75 districts and directed them to camp for four days to effectively execute the undergoing relief and rescue operations and monitor the situation.
Currently, Ganga, Sharda, Ghaghara, Rapti, Budhi Rapti, Kunhara, Rohin and Kwano rivers are flowing above the danger mark. Officials have been instructed to be on high alert in flood-affected areas.
Around 1,187 villages of about 18 districts are flood-affected in Uttar Pradesh. The state government is actively working to provide food grains to the people, taking them to safer locations and providing them with healthcare facilities in the flood-hit districts of the state.
As many as 360 motorboats and 4,500 boats and 156 vehicles have been deployed. The government has deployed around 6,050 boats and 1,023 medical teams while 1,134 flood relief camps, 1,321 flood posts and 1,263 animal relief camps have been set up.
Relief Commissioner Ranveer Prasad said, “More than 1,29,349 dry ration kits have been distributed by the government so far, and 21,741 people have been distributed dry ration kits in the last 24 hours. The state government has distributed 4,39,257 lunch packets to the affected people till date. In the last 24 hours itself, 18,366 lunch packets were distributed. The state government has also distributed around 2,62,347 ORS sachets and more than 19,59,530 tablets of chlorine in the affected areas.”
Over 66 teams, including those of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) have been deployed in 42 districts of the state to tackle the floods. These teams are working round the clock to mitigate the impact of floods in affected villages. The government is providing ample supply of drinking water, dry food packets and medicines, clothes, utensils and bedding among others while adhering to Covid protocol.