Revenue and Forest Department of State Government, on Thursday, released a paltry sum of Rs 8.38 crore for construction of bridges and roads as well as damage to households caused by the Ambazari floods of September 2023. What’s more interesting is that the word ‘Ambazari’ is missing in the Government Resolution (GR). There is mention of ‘aid for damage to property and basic infrastructure caused due to excessive rainfall and flood in Nagpur city in September 2023’. ‘The Hitavada’ had run a series of reports highlighting the woes of Nagpurians affected due to Ambazari floods, and all the affected persons had dubbed the promised aid of Rs 10,000/- as ‘inadequate’. ‘The Hitavada’ had also raised the issue of the norms of State Disaster Response Fund that had provision for a small amount, and had urged the State Government to intervene and provide additional and adequate aid to the affected persons.

 

Now, though the Government has released the aid of Rs 8.38 crore for the affected areas in the city of Nagpur, the actual aid that has been allocated as ‘financial aid for damaged households’ is only Rs 85.44 lakh! The aid has been released as per the State Disaster Response Fund norms. Since the session is being held in Nagpur, the Opposition parties are likely to raise the issue of paltry aid of Rs 10,000/- being offered to the households affected due to floods in Ambazari lake in September 2023. The release of funds in this regard appears to be an attempt of the Mahayuti Government to dilute the Opposition attack. There is no explanation whether this amount would be distributed in accordance with Rs 10,000/- norm in only 854.4 cases. There is a cryptic mention of ‘136’ under the head of ‘scope of work’. If one takes this number to be the number of households affected due to Ambazari floods, it may leave many others peeved. Going by ‘136’, if the aid of Rs 85.44 lakh is divided equally, it comes to Rs 62,823.53/-.

 

Of the total amount of Rs 8,38,54,000/- released, the maximum Rs 6 crore is allocated for reconstruction of damaged bridge. Interestingly, the order does not mention name of this only damaged bridge. But, it left the scope for speculation if that bridge was the one across Nag river diagonally opposite Panchsheel Cinema. For repairs of stone masonry work of nullahs where the embankment collapsed during the floods, an amount of Rs 90 lakh has been allocated. Sand-bags and stones are to be used for reconstruction of the damaged nullah walls. For the repairs of road length of 61.3 km damaged during the Ambazari floods, an amount of Rs 61.38 lakh has been earmarked. A simple calculation brings out that an amount of around Rs 1 lakh has been earmarked for repair of a kilometre of road stretch on an average. The total amount released to provide relief to Nagpur, also comprises a small sum of Rs 1.72 lakh allocated for clearing debris from drainage system and lifting garbage/waste that got deposited in public places during the flood.