The central government today announced an assistance of Rs 150 crore for flood-hit Gujarat. Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee made the announcement after making an aerial survey of Surat and surrounding areas.Mukherjee along with Union Textile Minister Shankarsingh Vaghela, took stock of the situation during a meeting with state government officials.Mukherjee said till now several areas of Surat are water-logged and it would take some time for the situation to normalise. Twenty-four mechanised boats have been despached to Surat city for evacuating stranded people, he added.He said 32 boats were already assisting in evacuating over 4,000 people while nine helicopters - 6 from the Air Force, 2 from Navy and 1 from Coast Guard - have been pressed into service for carrying out relief and rescue operations in Surat.Army personnel have been deployed and 4 more helicopters have been kept as standby for Surat, Mukherjee said.The helicopters made 51 sorties over Surat and dropped 48.42 tonnes of relief materials.
