UP government has directed the divisional commissioners and district magistrates to provide relief to the flood affected people on priority basis.
The district officers have been asked to tour the flood affected areas and take immediate measures to prevent the breach in flood protection embankments and shift the people from the flood affected areas to safer places.
Reviewing the flood relief programme in flood affected districts of east UP and Bundelkhand region chief secretary Dipak Singhal on Monday asked the officers to draw the continge4ncy plan to deal with the flood situation following the release of water from the reservoirs and barrage from other state after the heavy rains.
The principal secretary irrigation Suresh Chandra informed the meeting the flood situation in the state turned grim following the heavy rains in catchment areas and subsequent release of water from the resviours in Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh. He said heavy rains in Bundcelkhand region spread in Madhya Pradesh and UP has flooded many villages in Orai, Banda, Chitrakoot and Hamirpur district.
The state government has so far set up 668 flood relief outposts, 182 flood relief camps and 186 relief material distribution camps and over a lakh people have been shifted to safer places. The state government during the current financial year 2016-17 has sanctioned Rs 221 for flood protection projects and Rs 100 crore for the maintenance of the existing flood protection assets like embankments and flood protection bunds. Besides release of Rs 132 crore from the Centre is awaited for the centrally sponsored projects.
The principal secretary revenue Arvind Kumar said for the flood relief works NDRF teams have been rushed to Gonda, Balrampur, Ballia, Varanasi and Allahabad. He said two platoon of PAC have also been sent to Ballia district.. He said over 3,000 boats and 38 motorboats have been pressed into service for ferrying the people, their belonging to safer places. He said adequate quantity of food grains, plastic sheets and cattle feed has also been provided to flood affected districts.