Team visits every river bank village along the Tungabhadra and interacts with victims
Comprehensive package demanded for the victims on a par with project oustees
CPI(M) leader and former MLA M.A. Gafoor urged the government to emulate the Karnataka government in implementing the relief package for flood affected people in the State. The CPI (M) padayatra team led by former MLA M.A. Gafoor returned here after an eight-day tour of 51 villages covering a distance of 250 km.
The team visited every river bank village along Tungabhadra river and interacted with the victims and stayed in the villages during nights.
Mr. Gafoor explained that their padayatra started with observation at Agasanur on Andhra Pradesh and Karanataka border where the Karnataka government sanctioned an amount of Rs. 35,000 for every household, temporary shed for every affected family with lock and key provision, borewell for every 100 families and Rs. 1.15 lakh for every house.
The Karnataka government engaged NGOs to build the housing units for the victims for speedy completion. On the other hand, the relief allotment in AP villages had gone into the hands of village feudals who stocked all materials in their houses and allotted houses at their will.
He demanded a comprehensive package for the victims on a par with project oustees, and a compensation of Rs 10,000 for each acre of cropped area. He said the AP government had grossly failure to provide succor to the victims.
Also, he urged the government to waive loans of farmers, self-help group members, and artisans. Mr. Gafoor urged the government to construction a larger dam across Tungabhadra at Agasanur downstream of RDS anicut to supply water to RDS canal as well as control floods in future. A reservoir with a larger capacity would moderate the flood in the river.
The CPI(M) planned to picket the Collectorate on December 18 pressing for proper relief package for flood victims. CPI(M) State secretary B.V. Raghavulu would also participate in the protest.
Other members who participated padayatra along with Mr. Gafoor were J.N.Seshaiah, Ramanjaneyulu, P.S. Radhakrishna and B. Prabhakar.
