SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government is likely to submit to the Centre by this weekend the memorandum of losses, estimated to be at least Rs 50,000 crore, due to the worst floods in decades in the state.
All the administrative departments have been asked to submit their loss assessment reports on Thursday so that the same can be forwarded to the Union government in next couple of days, a senior state government official told a news agency.
The official said preliminary estimate of losses incurred to all sectors including private property and private businesses was at least Rs 50,000 crore.
“It can be higher than that also as some departments are still compiling data,” he said.
The official said the losses to agriculture sector were in excess of Rs 4,000 crore while horticulture sector has suffered losses to the tune of nearly Rs 2,000 crore.
“The damage to public infrastructure like roads, government buildings, bridges and hospitals is estimated at 7,000 crore,” he added.
The official said the damage in the private sector is much higher as for the first time the commercial hub of Lal Chowk, Budshah Chowk and surrounding areas have been hit by the floods.
“The losses are colossal for private businesses. There is not much that can be salvaged as the goods have remained submerged for more than 10 days,” he said.
Over 20,000 shops and other commercial outlets have been affected due to floods across the state, with Kashmir valley in general and Srinagar city in particular suffering maximum damage, he added.
The official said while nearly 2,34,000 houses have suffered varied degrees of damage, over 20,000 residential houses have been destroyed by the floods.
“These figures do not include the damages caused to residential houses in Srinagar district as many areas are still inundated. Conservative estimates are that Srinagar city has suffered as much damage as rest of the state,” he said.
Tourism officials said damage to the tourism infrastructure alone is at Rs 2,000 crore.
The healthcare sector has also suffered heavy losses due to the floods as several government run hospitals lost critical care and diagnostic equipment in the deluge that hit the state in the first week of September.
The state government has put the initial estimate of loss of the equipment at Rs 150 crore.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, during his recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had sought liberal rehabilitation and reconstruction package for the state in view of widespread damage caused by the floods.
The state government is also planning to seek relaxation in rules for providing cash relief to the victims of natural disasters.
