Banaskantha, Patan ‘disaster affected areas’

The Gujarat government, through the special gazette issued on Tuesday, declared Banaskantha and Patan as ‘disaster affected areas’. The government notified this gazette to concerned district authorities on Wednesday and informed them that their districts fall under disaster affected areas under Gujarat State Disaster Management Act, 2003. The status of disaster affected areas will remain for the period of 15 days.

As per the Act, the district authority will have special powers to allocate relief grants beyond the set rule of utilisation of Disaster Relief Funds. The collectors of the district will have special powers to give relief to people for paying taxes, getting loans.

Sources in the government said, “The government has declared the region as disaster affected area for fifteen days. If need be, the government can also extend the period and can give more liberties to collectors.”