Chandigarh, Sep 8 (IANS) Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Monday said 12 people have lost their lives with the collapse of houses amidst floods caused by heavy rains.

Three each deaths were reported in Fatehabad and Bhiwani districts, two each in Kurukshetra and Yamunanagar and one each in Hisar and Faridabad. “The government is continuously monitoring the damage caused by heavy rains,” CM Saini told the media here.

“We have opened the e-compensation portal to reduce the difficulties faced by the citizens due to floods. Till date, 169,738 farmers from 2,897 villages of the state have registered 996,701 acres on the compensation portal,” he said. “We have set priorities for immediate relief in flood and waterlogging-affected areas. Besides, the relief work is going on continuously in all these areas. A sum of Rs 3.06 crore has been sanctioned to the districts as a reserve fund for immediate relief measures,” the Chief Minister said.

He said an ex gratia of Rs 48 lakh has been released to provide financial assistance to the bereaved families. “If people have to leave their homes due to floods, we will set up relief camps for such people.” Also, he said in areas where waterlogging occurs, compensation of up to Rs 15,000 per acre is given for the damaged crops.

“If there is a shortage of green fodder in such areas, we will order dry fodder from those districts to overcome this problem. We will conduct a survey of houses that have collapsed or are partially damaged in waterlogged areas and compensate for the loss of houses,” the Chief Minister said. Also, he said teams of doctors have been deputed in flood-affected areas and made extensive arrangements for their treatment.

“Till now, 135 medical camps have been set up,” he said. CM Saini said the state government has given Rs 5 crore assistance each to Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab. “Today, our government has given Rs 5 crore assistance to Himachal Pradesh too.” He said all the party MLAs donated their one month’s salary for the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.

Also, all officers and employees have been requested to voluntarily contribute. The Chief Minister thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) reforms.

–IANS

vg/uk