Sonia asks Manmohan to give liberal package to flood-hit States

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi inspects the flood-affected areas of Rampur in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to give flood-hit Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand a liberal package, after she made an aerial survey of the worst-affected areas.

Ms. Gandhi, accompanied by Defence Minister A.K. Antony, flew over Haridwar along the Ganga and over the districts of Bijnaur, Muzzafarnagar, Rampur, Moradabad and Bareilly, all of which were inundated with water overflowing from the Ganga, the Ramganga and the Kosi.

Villages cut off

According to a statement issued by Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, she saw several villages totally cut off, with some kutcha houses totally damaged.

She also saw that water had entered some parts of Rampur and Moradabad towns and that canals and roads had been breached at some places. She observed extensive damage to the standing kharif crop.

Immediately after she reached New Delhi, Ms. Gandhi spoke to the Prime Minister and requested him to have the damage assessed, so that a liberal package could be made available to the two States through the National Calamity Relief Fund.

Earlier, at the Dehradun airport, Defence officials briefed Ms. Gandhi on the rescue operations conducted by the Army.