The Lok Sabha MP from Raigad Sunil Tatkare of the Nationalist Congress Party on Friday blamed banks for slowing down the relief work in the cyclone-affected areas of the district.
In an interaction with the media after a survey of the areas affected by the recent Cyclone Nisarga, he alleged that the banks were delaying the release of funds. He also took stock of the COVID-19 cases in the district.
Of the ₹373 crore allocated for post-cyclone relief work, ₹242 crore is meant for repair to houses damaged and of this, ₹162 crore has already been transferred to the banks.
“The banks are working at a slow pace due to which the farmers are suffering. If the banks do not speed up the process, action would be taken against them,” Mr. Tatkare said. He added that banks have been asked to work at full strength even on weekends.
The Raigad district collector and district magistrate Nidhi Choudhari had earlier issued an order, under the Epidemic Diseases Act and the National Disaster Management Act, to all banks to ensure 100% attendance on all days till the relief funds are disbursed. “There is a delay because not all bank staff are regular in their attendance. While some of them have to travel from different places, others come from containment zones. The government too had issued orders that only 15% staff was required in banks due to which attendance was a problem,” Ms. Choudhari said.
While Raigad has received ₹373 crore from the State government, the district authorities are yet to get any relief funds from the Centre government. Taking a dig at the Devendra Fadnavis government, Mr. Tatkare said during his tenure, the funds allocated for agricultural damage was just ₹18,000 per hectare. This has now been raised to ₹50,000 per hectare.
“For the losses to supari and coconut crop, even this amount is not justified and hence I have requested the Chief Minister to consider paying relief per damaged tree. We are hopeful that this will be done in a week,” Mr. Tatkare said.
Cyclone Nisarga had made landfall at Murud on June 3, damaging 1.9 lakh houses and 16,060 hectares in 15 talukas of the district.