SOLACE AT LAST
*Families whose houses suffered major damage will be paid Rs one lakh
*Those houses with minor damages will get Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 by September to October this year
*CM says govt trying to pay maximum compensation to all affected people
*Amount from the State’s side is in addition to what is mandated under the NDMA norms
*Floods were result of high intensity rains for nearly a fortnight wherein 15 to 25 centimetres of rain was recorded in three days in Tillari & Mhadei basins
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PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday said the government will pay up to Rs 2-lakh compensation to families whose homes were destroyed in the recent flood by August 15.
"The compensation will be paid by August 15," Sawant said while replying to the calling attention motion moved by Opposition Leader and other legislators.
Sawant said, families whose houses suffered major damage will be paid Rs one lakh while those with minor damages will get Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 by September to October this year.
“We are trying to ensure maximum compensation is paid to all those affected people, including additional amount from the State government's side in addition to what is mandated under the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) norms,” Sawant said.
The chief minister claimed that the floods were the result of high intensity rains for nearly a fortnight wherein 15 to 25 centimetres of rain was recorded in three days in the Tillari and Mhadei basins.
Earlier, leader of the Opposition and several other legislators including Sudin Dhavlikar, Vijai Sardesai, Rohan Khaunte, Luizinho Faleiro, Churchill Alemao and others, tried to impress on the government that compensation sanctioned by revenue officials tends up to be far below the actual damage suffered by the people.
Dhavlikar in particular demanded that it would instead be prudent that the government itself through the Public Works Department (PWD) carries out the repairs and reconstruction of the damaged and collapsed houses.
Himself a civil contractor of repute, Dhavlikar volunteered to spearhead the reconstruction and repair of houses mission if the PWD and the government so desires.
Opposition leader and Alemao backed Dhavlikar's suggestion and recalled that during the floods at Canacona in 2009, the government had carried out such an operation of repairing and reconstructing the damaged houses.
