Massive relief work on in nine districts

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, AUG. 25. A massive relief and rehabilitation operation has been mounted to help the affected families and restore normal life in the nine rain-ravaged districts of Andhra Pradesh. With rescue work almost coming to an end, men and material have been fully diverted for relief and restoration. Under a fresh decision, the benefit of the 20-kg rice for families whose houses had collapsed partially or fully has been extended to the people in the 292 marooned villages or habitations. The families at the 101 relief camps are being given cooked food or rice ``depending on the local situation''.

According to a Civil Supplies official, the Government, for the first time, has allowed the authorities to draw as much rice as the situation demands, doing away with procedures. The stocks have been kept at the disposal of the Collectors. Sufficient stocks are available as the State procured a record of 31.4 lakh tonnes for the public distribution system this year.

The exact number of the affected people is not available with the State-level relief officials, but they roughly put it at 40,000. An official said enumeration and distribution of relief - 20 kg. rice, Rs. 1,000 for fully collapsed house and Rs. 500 for partially damaged house, Rs. 100 for clothes and Rs. 100 for utensils - are in full swing ``simultaneously''. The ex- gratia of Rs. 1 lakh in cases of death will be paid at a later stage after verification of the claims, he said. To render the operation more effective, the Government has appointed special officers for the nine districts, picking them from among senior IAS officers.

On Friday, a GO was issued releasing Rs. 11 crores to repair 90 major and 102 minor or medium irrigation sources which had breached. The Principal Secretary for Irrigation, Mr. P.K. Agarwal, said most of the breaches occurred in Kurnool, Nizamabad and Guntur districts. The K.C. Canal, the lifeline for Kurnool and Cuddapah districts, suffered cuts at 12 points. Heavy machinery such as bulldozers, poclains, cranes and tippers have already reached some of the breach points to build ringbunds. Work will be launched as soon as the flow from the breaches abate.

According to information received by Mr. Agarwal, almost all the major projects in the State had surplussed, except the two giants, Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar. The water levels in the two projects on Friday were 855.4 feet and 519.9 feet, compared to their maximum levels of 885 ft. and 590 ft. The two reservoirs accounted for a live storage of 389 tmc ft as against their full live capacity of about 650 tmc ft.

Somasila Project was full on Thursday with the swollen Kundur river, which submerged Nandyal town, discharging a record of 30 tmc ft. The dam which feeds Kandaleru, and through that the Telugu Ganga, started letting out the surplus. Other major projects such as Thungabhadra, Jurala, Nizamsagar, Sriramsagar, Singur and Prakasam Barrage have already surplussed. The low- lying areas along the Godavari have been put on alert as the discharge from Sriramsagar project was increased to 4 lakh cusecs today from yesterday's 3 lakh cusecs following heavy inflows from the upper reaches. The jammed crest-gate of Kadam project which was also full, is being attended to, by a retinue of engineers rushed from Hyderabad.

A spokesman for A.P. Transco said power supply which was disrupted in six towns and 96 villages during the floods, has been restored with the rectification of lines. The HT tower near Nandyal which collapsed is being re-erected, along with two others which were twisted near Tiruapti. Water is being pumped from the submerged sub-stations and feeder sites. During the rains, three sub-stations were put off, 82 distribution transformers failed and 18 33-KV lines and 59 11-KV lines affected. All of them have been rectified, he said.

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