VIJAYAWADA: Vijayawada MP Kesineni Sivanath (Chinni) has appealed to the Central government for the immediate release of Rs 1,100 crore in flood relief funds, which are currently pending with the high-level committee.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, during his support for the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill-2024, he highlighted the devastating floods in Vijayawada, which received the heaviest rainfall in the last 50 years in September.
The floods caused massive damage, displacing over 3 lakh people and submerging hundreds of hectares of agricultural land. Shivanath attributed the disaster to both natural calamities and man-made factors, particularly the negligence in maintaining the city’s drainage systems.
He said the delayed response in the first 24 hours exacerbated the situation.
The MP praised Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for using his experience and technology to bring the city back to normal.
Naidu coordinated relief efforts by distributing food via drones and using fire engines to clean mud-filled homes.
Sivanath also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the timely assistance provided by the Centre during the disaster.
In his speech, Shivanath spoke in favour of the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill-2024, which he called essential to address frequent natural disasters.
He noted that the funds allocated to the State Disaster Response Fund have nearly tripled from 2015 to 2023, reaching approximately Rs 1 lakh crore under the leadership of Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Sivanath expressed hope that his maiden speech in Parliament would help in securing relief for the flood-affected regions of his constituency.