SRINAGAR: While the people of Jammu and Kashmir grapple with the aftermath of the devastating floods that wreaked havoc last month, the state government has reportedly been told to cough up an incredible Rs 650 crores in payments for having availed the services of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) for the rescue operations they carried out and the relief material distributed to those stranded and rescued.
According to local media reports, the state is yet to receive the Rs. 1000 crore relief package that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced after his aerial visit to the flood ravaged state on 7 September.
News reports quoting sources say that a bill of over Rs 650 crores has been drafted in Delhi and verbally communicated to the state government through official channels. However, the state government has not received the hard copy of the bill so far, sources said.
They said the bill also includes charges for food items dropped from the choppers and for the boats that were used during the rescue operations.
The disclosure about these bills was reportedly made during a meeting of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah with traders just before the start of their road show protest to press for their demands to expedite the rehabilitation process.
Chief Secretary Mohammad Iqbal Khanday said they havent received any such bill so far. However, he added: I dont have any information about it yet, but anyways we have to pay the bill as per the procedure.
Khanday said it was on the recommendation of the state government that services of IAF and NDRF were availed at the time of disaster to be paid for from the funds of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
Whenever IAF and NDRF services are availed by any state at the time of disaster, they have to be paid from the treasury of states SDRF, Khanday clarified.
Kashmir Life reports that individuals who were part of the meeting said the Chief Minister was visibly upset over the tardy response that the flood devastated people were receiving from his government, both at the political and official level.
Angry traders complained about how the central government flew its Income Tax office to safer Jammu city and issued notices to traders. Some of the traders who were inundated, received the notice within hours after being rescued by the volunteers, they said.
Traders also complained about how state owned telecom giant BSNL billed them for September when there was no service or connectivity with all mobile and electricity services uprooted along with public infrastructure in the region. Most traders had to pay the bills merely to save their cell phone numbers which they said are now part of the individual identity of the mobile phone users.
The traders did not spare the state government and its entities either. They were very critical of the state owned J&K Bank that charged interest on loans for the month of September when the entire Valley including most of the banks were under water.
Omar Abdullah was apparently at a loss to justify the functioning of his government in the meeting. Traders spoke about the tardy implementation of the initiatives that have already been announced. Even after six weeks of the tragedy, the state government is yet to disburse even Rs 100 crore so far, they said. The state government has reportedly made more purchases by debit to State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) for public infrastructure, rather than on the relief front.
Earlier, the government came under criticism for allegedly dropping expired food items from the choppers in the name of relief.
It is a cruel joke, first they provide us expired food items and now they are charging for it, a trader said requesting anonymity.
The development has come at a time when flood victims are desperately seeking financial package for their rehabilitation as chilling Kashmir winter looms.
It has also infuriated the business community which has been badly affected in the floods.
It is an irony that instead of sending relief package for the revival of Kashmir, Centre is sending such kind of bills, said another businessman.
Along with the Rs 1000 crore relief package for J&K, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi had also announced Rs 320 crore SDRF, but the families affected by the floods are yet to be paid.
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