Assam govt seeks Rs 500 cr for flood relief

During a press conference held in Guwahati, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said the Assam government has sought as an interim relief of Rs 500 crore from the Centre for relief, rehabilitation and repair works in the flood hit areas in the state.

“Till now 14 people had lost their lives and more than eight lakh people have affected in the flood. The state government has adequate funds for immediate relief operations in the flood affected areas, but Central assistance would be required for repair works, rehabilitation,” Gogoi said.

Gogoi further said that the Central government had not released flood relief funds which sought by the state government in last year flood.

The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said in its report that, more than 8.33 lakh people of 984 villages in 14 districts have affected in the worsened flood in the state.

The flood situation is still grim in Dhemaji, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh, Bongaigaon, Sonitpur, Barpeta, Jorhat, Goalpara, Morigaon, Dhubri, Kamrup, Golaghat and Nagaon districts.

District administration of flood hit districts had set up 164 relief camps, where a total of 1,59,024 persons took shelter.

Seven persons of Dhubri district, five of Kokrajhar, one each in Chirang and Goalpara district had lost their lives in the present flood in the state.

Flood waters submerged more than 80% areas in Pobitora wildlife sanctuary and 31 anti-poaching camps in Kaziranga National Park.

“We have introduced time card for vehicles in NH-37 for restriction the speed limit to protect wild animals,” an official of Kaziranga National Park said.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)