Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

Excerpts of PM's Statement to the press at Nanded

There has been heavy rainfall in Maharashtra since July this year. In the first spell in July, Western Maharashtra was badly affected with Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur and Sholapur being the worst hit. And in August, districts in Vidarbha, Marathwada and Northern Maharashtra have been badly affected by floods.

Today, I flew over parts of Nanded city and Nanded district which have been badly hit by the Godavari River and its tributaries. I am told that the water level in the Godavari has been at an unprecedented levels.

The people of Nanded, Nandurbar, Jalna, Parbhani, Yavatmal, Buldhana, Akola and Chandrapur have suffered a lot from these floods. Many have lost their homes, their possessions and in some case, lives as well. Over 160 persons have died because of these floods in Maharashtra. This is extremely sad and unfortunate.

I am told that almost three lakh people had to be evacuated to safety in relief camps. The Government of Maharashtra has been doing its best to provide relief to people in the affected areas.

The Government of India has been providing all possible assistance to the State in immediate rescue operations. The Army, Air Force and Navy have been in the forefront in providing assistance.

We are fully with the State Government in its efforts and support it in whatever way it desires. We will immediately provide an assistance of Rs.400 crores to the State for its relief activities. Of this, Rs. 220 crores from the Calamity Relief Fund and Rs. 180 crores from the National Calamity Contingency Fund.

We will send a team soon to assess the damage caused by these floods and will provide further assistance. We will also give Rs. 1 lakh from the Prime Minister's Relief Fund to the families of all those who died in the floods.