Gandhinagar

The Gujarat government today said that at least 72 persons have died and over 81,000 cattle have perished in the flood followed by heavy rains in north region of the state last month.

State health minister and government’s spokesperson Nitin Patel said government property worth Rs 2,000 crore has been either washed away or completely damaged.

The government will seek assistance from the Centre after conducting survey of loss, he told reporters here.

“72 persons have lost their lives in different parts of state due to heavy rain followed by flood, particularly in north Gujarat region. Among these, 40 deaths were reported in Banaskantha district alone, while 6 deaths were reported in Patan district and 4 in Kutch district. The remaining deaths were reported in other parts of the state,” the minister said.

Patel said that heavy rain followed by flood have caused maximum damage in Banaskantha, Patan and Kutch districts, where over 81,000 cattle have been killed.

“In these three districts, 81,609 cattle have perished.

Either they have drowned or were swept away, or they were killed due to severe cold or due to some disease.

“Out of these, 42,609 were large cattle like cows and buffaloes, while 38,871 were small cattle, such as goats and sheeps,” the minister added.

As per a rough estimate by the government, crops sowed in more than 2 lakh hectares may fail due to water logging.

“There are still many places where water has not receded.

Many villages are still under five feet of water. We fear that crops in 2 lakh hectare may fail. Some 3 to 4 villages in Banaskantha are completely washed off in flood.

“Thus, we have decided to allot new land to resettle the villagers,” the Kadi legislator said.

“We are yet to find out the loss of private property, as the survey is still going on. As per our rough estimate, government suffered losses to the tune of around Rs 2,000 crore, as several roads, schools, offices and electricity infrastructure is either washed away or damaged,” he added.

“Cash doles and other compensation will be paid as per our generous relief package announced recently. We will also seek help from the Centre to allot more grant to cope up with the situation. For that, we will send our survey report to Centre in next three days,” Patel said.

PTI