Flood-affected families still await relief from govt

Hyderabad:  Tens of hundreds of families across the city who were affected by the floods that hit in late October, are yet to receive their promised relief from the government as the Hyderabad Civic polls put a break to the disbursal of Rs.10,000 relief per family. 

Days after the results of the Hyderabad Civic polls have been announced, the flood victims have already flocked the Meeseva centers for the same. With the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao promising that the flood relief will continue as usual from December 7 after the election’s Model Code of Conduct (MCC) ceases to be in effect, several families on Monday staged protests in front of Meeseva Centers demanding flood relief immediately.

Several of these centers were also found to be closed, which led to further aggravation. In Alwal, several families called upon the TRS government and were seen blocking the roads.

Heavy crowds were seen near Meeseva centers in Bahadurpura, Nawab Saheb Kunta, Kalapather, Kishanbagh, and Misrigunj in Old City; Alwal and Malkajgiri in the new city.

Rainaz Begum, a resident of Bahadurpura, claimed that she has applied for the relief amount before elections and was constantly visiting her nearby Meeseva center hoping that she would receive the flood relief amount. “When I arrived at Meeseva center today, it was closed and police were deployed there,” she said

The government of Telangana on Monday issued an order stating that the GHMC teams are verifying those who were affected in floods and had not claimed relief. It said that once the teams verify the details of Aadhar and bank account, the flood relief amount will be directly transferred to their accounts.

Besides, it has been observed that in the areas where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged victorious in the civic polls, people are asking for Rs. 25,000 as flood relief. The party, in its election manifesto, mentioned that it would increase the relief amount from Rs.10,000 (as being given by the TRS-led government) to Rs. 25,000.

A resident of Malkajigiri, where BJP won, said: “As it promised to give Rs. 25,000 as a relief amount for flood victims, we have voted for BJP. When we came to receive the amount, the Meeseva center was closed.”

“We do not believe the TRS government would transfer the amount in our bank accounts directly,” he added.