BJP urges PM to declare AP floods as 'national calamity'

Hyderabad, Aug 11 (UNI) The Andhra Pradesh BJP today urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to declare the recent calamity due to heavy rainfall and floods as 'national calamity' and release Rs 2,000 crore as immediate relief in the flood-affected areas in the state.

A three-member delegation led by the State BJP Vice President S V Sheshagiri Rao, who submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister on the recent floods during his visit to the state, said about 5000 villages were affected and lakhs of people suffering without food, water and medical aid.

The aid provided by the state government was inadequate and also not reaching the affected in time.

The party also urged that the Centre provide funds to construct bunds on River Godavari, which were washed away in the floods in 1950s, a press release said.

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