Govt pegs Surat flood losses at Rs 116 crore

The district administration has pegged the physical losses caused by incessant rains in Surat a few days back at Rs 116 crore.

Additional district collector Milan Vyas, said: "The material or physical losses owing to the unprecedented rains in rural areas of Surat are in the region of Rs 103.85 crore, while the losses in Surat city are Rs 12 crore. This figure has been arrived at through surveys conducted in the affected areas by our teams."

Vyas informed that the state highways, which fall under the jurisdiction of the road & building department, suffered the highest losses at Rs 31.25 crore. The panchayat irrigation losses were at Rs 29.95 crore. The losses caused by the washing away of land and to the agriculture sector were Rs 7 crore each.

The additional collector also informed that drainage department suffered losses of Rs 5.07 crore, while the Gujarat Electricity Board received a Rs 7.55 crore hit. The rain losses of Surat Urban Development Authority were Rs 3.56 crore.

According to Vyas, check dams in the district suffered damage of Rs. 3.64 crore, in the floods.

Various buildings and roads (other than the state roads), suffered damages of Rs. 6.30 crore, while the total industrial losses were put at Rs. 4 crore. The losses to shops, cattle and water resources were put at Rs. 69 lakh, 1 lakh and 15 lakh, respectively, he said.

Vyas informed that the losses suffered by individual industries have not been included in the figures accumulated during the surveys.

The Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industry would prepare the data of ch losses. The losses caused by the rains in Surat city have been estimated at Rs 12 crore.

The damage to the roads were estimated at Rs 3.75 crore while the damage to the various bridges were put at Rs 1.50 crore.

The losses of sanitation and epidemic control were estimated at Rs 2 crore and Rs 1.20 crore respectively, while the damage to flood protective embankment was to the tune of Rs 1 crore. Again, this figure does not include the losses or damages suffered by the individual houses.

Meanwhile, officials said that a four-member Central team would visit Surat tomorrow and assess the damage caused by the floods.

The team, comprising R M Deshpande, advisor, drinking water supply department, N K Agnihotri, joint commissioner, dairy & fisheries department, N D George, director, planning commission, and Alok Gupta, chief engineer, central electricity society, would reach Surat at around 1230 hrs.

The team would hold a meeting with the district collectors of Surat, Valsad and Navsari, and take stock of the situation. The team would also visit some of the flood affected areas in the city and district, before leaving for Bharuch, officials added.