Chitrakoot (UP), Sep 6 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday visited Chitrakoot district and took stock of the situation in flood-affected areas and reviewed relief and rehabilitation measures undertaken by the administration.

He ordered authorities to provide immediate relief materials, as well as a new residence, to those affected by the flood.

Addressing the gathering, CM Yogi said: "I have come today to assure all of you that in this hour of disaster, you are not alone. Whether it is an ordinary family, a trader, a math, a temple, or the ghats -- whatever loss anyone has suffered, the government will make arrangements to provide support and assist everyone."

"If a poor person's home is affected by floods or fire, if someone's home is affected, their entire house burns down, or gets washed away in the flood, if they are eligible under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, give them a home under that, or else under the Mukhyamantri Awas Yojana, immediately provide a new house and land lease document."

The Chief Minister also accused the Samajwadi Party (SP) of "taking away" the money meant for flood-relief measures.

"Before 2017, whenever floods occurred, the then government would not even take notice. The Samajwadi Party government would allegedly misappropriate the relief funds, leaving the poor, vulnerable and deprived without adequate assistance. If someone raised a strong objection, they were reportedly given only dry bread," he claimed.

Contrasting the situation under the current BJP-led state government, CM Yogi said: "Now, the government has taken a firm stand on flood relief. When we came to power in 2017, I visited flood-affected areas to inspect the relief efforts and asked what assistance was being provided to affected families. I was told that dry bread was being distributed. I asked the administration if they could continue with dry bread. I ordered them to provide a flood kit with all the necessary materials to the flood victims."

The Chief Minister distributed relief material among 800 families affected by the recent floods. He also provided land allocation certificates to families rendered homeless by the disaster, enabling them to secure land for residential use.

In addition, eligible flood-affected families received financial assistance from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to help them recover from flood losses.

On Saturday, CM Yogi visited Varanasi and inspected the flood-affected areas of the city. He also conducted an aerial survey of the impacted areas in the district.

--IANS