THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Pointing out that the Central aid announced so far for the post-flood Rebuild Kerala initiative fell pathetically short of expectations, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday said the state would continue to put pressure on the Centre for additional aid.
Replying to questions in the Assembly, he said the state has received only Rs 600 crore by way of Central aid. However, the Centre has also demanded payment for the special foodgrain allocations made in the wake of the floods. (The Centre had sanctioned 89,540 MT of grain after the mid-August floods.)
The state had demanded Rs 5,616.77 crore under National Disaster Response Fund norms and another Rs 5,000 crore as special assistance, he said in a written reply. The state is also awaiting a decision on its demand that it be allowed to use about Rs 400 crore which remains unspent in World Bank-aided projects like KSTP and the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project.
The state would require at least Rs 31,000 crore for the post-flood reconstruction, Pinarayi said in a written reply. According to the Rapid Damage Assessment and Need Analysis (RDNA) by the Union Finance Ministry, ADB and World Bank, the loss in monetary terms is pegged at Rs 25,050 crore. The UN’s Post Disaster Need Assessment has put the losses at Rs 26,718 crore.