Friday, August 11 2006 10:14 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Vadodara: The Centre yesterday (Aug 10, 2006) announced an aid package of Rs 150 crore for flood-hit Gujarat after Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Congress President Sonia Gandhi toured affected areas in and around Surat city.

Announcing the package after an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas, Mukherjee said several areas of Surat are still waterlogged and it will take some time for the situation to normalise.

He said 24 mechanised boats have been despatched to the city to evacuate stranded people.

Indirectly blaming the Gujarat government for the sudden release of water from Ukai dam, Mukherjee told reporters this had caused flooding in Surat.

He said 32 boats were used to evacuate over 4,000 people while nine helicopters including six from the Indian Air Force had been deployed for relief and rescue operations in Surat.

Asked to comment on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's statement blaming Maharashtra for the discharge of water from dams that led to floods in Surat, Mukherjee said, "This is no time to blame each other and we will find out the real cause of the floods. Our priority is to restore normalcy and speed up rescue and relief operations."

When it was pointed out that the aid provided by the Centre was less than what was demanded by the state government, he said this amount had been released as immediate relief.

"The Centre will release more funds after assessment of damage caused due to floods," he said.