Madhya Pradesh CM seeks ₹ 9000 cr in flood-relief funds from the Centre

The Congress government in Madhya Pradesh has sought the aid of ₹9,000 crores from the Centre in view of the devastating trail left across the state by rainfall during the recent monsoon season.

MP chief minister Kamal Nath called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Friday in this regard and sought assistance to compensate farmers for crop loss and repair the damage caused by the recent floods. The PM assured CM Nath of all possible help.

During the meeting, Nath submitted a 116-page memorandum on crop loss and other flood-related damage to PM Modi and asked for urgent assistance, mostly from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF). Large-scale damage to Kharif crops in Madhya Pradesh will affect the entire country since the state is one of the prominent food growers, Nath told the PM.

Over the 45-minute long discussion, Nath said Madhya Pradesh has suffered losses of over Rs 16,000 crore due to the unprecedented rainfall and floods. The state has got 46% excess rainfall, and 20 of the 52 districts received 60% surplus rain, he said.

Mandsaur, Neemuch and Agar-Malwa are the worst affected, and almost all the crops, except for paddy, have been destroyed, he told the PM.

He urged the PM to send a central study team again to Madhya Pradesh to access the actual loss, a state release said on Friday evening, adding that Nath proposed that the floods be categorised as a “serious calamity”.

The floods have badly damaged 1 lakh houses, 1,100 km of roads and over 1,700 bridges and culverts, Nath said, adding that 242 villages had to be evacuated fully or partially. Over 75,000 people were evacuated to relief camps with the help of state, central and other agencies.

Heavy rain is still on in parts of Madhya Pradesh, he told the Prime Minister.

Since the central study team had visited Madhya Pradesh last month, a reassessment of damage is needed for a realistic picture, he pointed out, and asked for immediate assistance of Rs 6621.28 crore from National Disaster Response Force and Rs 2285.88 crore for infrastructure rebuilding.