Bihar floods: Sonia, Patil to conduct aerial survey

PATNA: UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil will be on a day-long visit to the state on Tuesday for an aerial survey of the flood-hit districts, Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee president Sadanand Singh said.

Singh said Sonia Gandhi and Patil would arrive in Purnia on Tuesday afternoon after undertaking a survey of flood-hit areas in Assam.

Accompanied by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Union ministers Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan, they would survey Khagaria, Begusarai, Samastipur, Darbhanga, Madhubani and Sitamarhi districts.

Gandhi and Patil would then come to Patna tomorrow evening before flying back to New Delhi.

The state government has prepared a comprehensive memorandum to be submmitted to the UPA chairperson and Home Minister seeking financial assistance for the damage caused by floods to the standing crops, private and public properties, besides infrastructure, official sources said.