Stating that Laila cyclone caused less losses than feared, Chief Minister K. Rosaiah said that the relief operations were continuing at a fast pace even as brisk work was going on to enumerate crop losses in all the affected districts. It would be too early to quantify the property or crop loss as enumeration work was still taking place, he added.
The Chief Minister was addressing a press conference here on Saturday after an aerial survey of the cyclone-hit areas of Ongole, Addanki, Bapatla, Ponnur, Tenali and Chirala areas.
Mr. Rosaiah said that he had been in regular touch with UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and daily reports have also been sent to the Government of India on the storm-related conditions in the State. The Centre had sympathetically responded to extent all possible help to the affected families, he said.
Mr. Rosaiah said that losses could be minimised with the help of prompt action from the administration at the districts and state level and also from the political parties. Usually in times of heavy rains, there would be extensive cattle loss but it was minimal this time, he added. He said that he had been in constant contact with the district collectors of Prakasam, Guntur, Krishna, West and East Godavari and Visakhpatnam districts, even as Chief Secretary and Chief Minister's Office also continuously monitored the situation.
Asserting that the administration was fully geared up to meet cyclone threat from day one, Mr. Rosaiah said that nearly 73,000 people were shifted to relief camps in the affected districts where food and drinking water supply was arranged for them. He said that service organisations also swung into relief operations. The Pradesh Congress Committee president responded very well to extend help to victims, even as TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu and Praja Rajyam Party president Chiranjeevi also issued statements to go to the rescue of affected families, he pointed out.
Mr. Rosaiah said that as it was not a crop season, there was no large-scale damage but farmers suffered a little loss of the rabi paddy as it could not withstand water logging. He said that rains drenched heaps of paddy in some areas and some grain even showed sprouting. After enumeration is over, compensation would be paid as per the scale already fixed, he added.
