Six persons were killed and crops spread over one lakh hectares suffered damage due to unseasonal rains and hailstorms that have lashed in Andhra Pradesh State.
Following instructions from Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who is on a visit to China, Chief Secretary IYR Krishna Rao, along with Agriculture Minister Prathipati Pulla Rao, held a meeting with the officials of Disaster Management, Horticulture, Agriculture and Energy Departments to review on unseasonal rains in the State and also interacted through Video Conference with the District Collectors on Monday.
The Chief Secretary issued instructions to the District Collectors concerned to pay ex-gratia immediately in respect of all death cases.
Heavy rains, accompanied by strong winds, damaged houses and brought down power cables across the State. The Chief Secretary said that the same norms of Hudhud may be applied to this calamity too. As per initial reports, the standing crops which would have been harvested in the month of April have been flattened by the rain and strong winds.
Total six deaths were reported so far in Kurnool, Kadapa and Ananthapuram Districts (two deaths in each district). The Chief Secretary issued instructions to the District Collectors to send preliminary reports on damages occurred due to unseasonal rains for taking immediate action to extend relief to the farmers and ex-gratia to the deceased. The Disaster Management have been asked to carry out random survey on the damages and Agriculture Department officials have been asked to deploy teams and enumerate crop damage, loss of livestock and furnish proposals for financial assistance to affected farmers, Chief Secretary said.
The Chief Secretary has also briefed about the revised norms of National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to the District Collectors. (INN)