The current wave of flood has claimed 12 lives and affected nearly 16 lakh people across Assam, the State Assembly was informed on Wednesday.
Making a statement on the flood situation, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal declared an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the families of each of the deceased and said the amount will be paid this week.
“Flood is the most burning problem of the State. The current flood has affected almost all constituencies and has become a serious problem. It has claimed 12 lives so far and hit nearly 16 lakh people across 19 districts,” he told the Assembly.
The government is closely monitoring the situation and has been holding regular discussions with officials of various departments, mainly those responsible for flood relief and rehabilitation, Mr Sonowal said.
“We have specifically directed the DCs and SDOs to depute officials for flood-related works and do a detailed study of the situation. Health and Veterinary departments have been asked to go to the people and evaluate the situation,” he added.
The government has asked the authorities concerned to provide all necessary support to the people living in the relief camps, the Chief Minister said while making his statement during the Budget Session of the Assembly.
“As soon as the flood problem hit the State, we released funds to all the DCs (Deputy Commissioners). Earlier, all DCs used to complain about lack of funds, but this time it will not happen,” he added.
Mr Sonowal also informed about his discussion with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who had yesterday assured all possible help from the Centre in tacking the problem.
He also said BJP MPs met the Prime Minister yesterday and “he has assured them that the Centre is with Assam at this hour”.
Mr Sonowal also directed the DCs of flood-hit districts to step up relief and rescue operations as enough funds have been released to provide assistance to the affected.
Deputy Commissioners have been directed to make available the required gratuity relief to the affected people as “there is no dearth of funds at their disposal for rescue and relief operations”, the Chief Minister said in a statement.
Mr Sonowal asked them to ensure that the affected people housed in relief camps do not face any difficulty in matters of ration, medicine, sanitation and drinking water.
He added that he was closely monitoring the flood situation in the affected districts and has instructed Health, Agriculture, Revenue and Disaster Management, Power, Public Health Engineering and Animal Husbandry and Veterinary departments to take up immediate measures to tackle the situation.
He also directed the Ministers and MLAs to reach out to the affected people in their respective constituencies and to take stock of the situation there, liaise with the DCs to remove difficulties if any and to streamline the process of distribution of relief materials.
Mr Sonowal asked the MLAs to submit report to him on the flood situation and necessary steps to be initiated to tackle the situation and he would incorporate the salient points of their reports during the preparation of a detailed memorandum to be submitted to the Central government. - PTI
