The heads of Russian regions will be held personally responsible for building new homes for victims of wildfires, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Monday.
"The entire responsibility for the performance of this task lies on the heads of constituent territories of the Russian Federation," he said.
He also demanded that officials tighten fire safety regulations.
"The irresponsible behavior of those who ignore the bans and violate elementary safety rules comes at too high a price for ordinary citizens," Putin said.
Putin ordered earlier on Monday the governors of 14 Russian regions affected by wildfires that have killed at least 34 people to hand in lists of casualties and reconstruction plans.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has introduced emergency measures in the seven parts of Russia that have been the worst affected by wildfires.
Emergency regulations will be enforced in the Republics of Mari El and Mordovia, as well as the Vladimir, Voronezh, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod and Ryazan provinces.
Over 2,000 people have been left homeless by the worst wildfires to hit central Russia in decades. The damage caused by the flames is estimated at over 4.6 billion rubles ($150 million), the Regional Development Ministry said.
On Friday, Putin visited the village of Verkhnaya Vereya near Nizhny Novgorod, where all 341 homes were destroyed by wildfires, and promised the distressed residents that the village would be rebuilt by winter. The head of the local government, Alexei Sokolov, resigned on Saturday, the first resignation after Putin said on Friday local government chiefs who have failed to cope with the deadly wildfires should resign.
Many residents in the Nizhny Novgorod region complained to Putin, at the scene to assess the situation, that the actions taken by local authorities were chaotic and uncoordinated.
Temperatures across much of western and central Russia have regularly topped 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) during the past five weeks, causing peat bog and forest fires and creating what is thought to be the worst drought since 1972.
Putin has ordered a total of 5 billion rubles ($165 million) to be disbursed from the federal budget to the central Russian areas worst affected by wildfires.
He said the families of those who died in wildfires would receive 1 million rubles ($33,000) in compensation each. He also said the government would allocate around 3 million rubles ($100,000) for the reconstruction of each burnt down house.
MOSCOW, August 2 (RIA Novosti)
