Top

Assam floods: At least 26 dead, Rajnath says situation grim'

Singh spoke to Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal to take stock of the situation made an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas.

Guwahati: Terming the situation in Assam as ‘grim’, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who carried out an aerial survey of the flood ravaged areas in the state on Saturday, said that an action plan to deal with such unprecedented situation was the need of the hour. According to reports, at least 26 people have lost their lives due to the raging floods.

“I visited certain flood-affected areas of Assam. The situation is grim but the Chief Minister and his team are doing well to manage the situation,” said the Home Minister addressing a press conference after reviewing the flood situation.

“Over 26 districts have been affected due to the floods. NDRF teams are working on the rescue and relief work at the ground level. The NDRF and the SDRF have helped in saving more than 6,000 lives. The Centre is ready to provide all possible help,” he added.

Read: Assam govt left red faced as Bangladesh picture included in flood photos

Announcing that the state government will provide a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the victims of the Floods, Singh also said that he received a memorandum from the Assam government and that an inter-ministerial team would visit Assam soon.

“Declaring this as a natural calamity is not the solution, there is a need for action plan to deal with such serious flood situation. I will study the memorandum submitted by the Assam government and decide on further course of action to be taken by the Centre,” he said.

The worst hit districts include Lakhimpur Golaghat, Jorhat, Bongaigaon, Dhemaji, Barpeta, Goalpara, Dhubri, Darrang, Morigaon, Sonitpur, Nalbari, Sivasagar, Kokrajhar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Biswanath, Kamrup Metropolitan, Chirang, Nagaon, Kamrup and South Kamrup.

The Union Home Minister visited Jagi Bhakatgaon flood relief camp and handed over relief materials to the affected people and also made ex-gratia payment to the next of kin who died in the flood.

More than 1.3 lakh people have taken shelter in relief camps set up by the state administration in 19 flood-hit districts and the Army, National and State Disaster Response Force personnel are going all out to provide relief.

The Brahmaputra and its tributaries have flooded several districts including the Kaziranga National Park.

The state government has maintained that flood relief and rescue measures will be top priority for them, and that disaster-response forces are doing everything that they can do to salvage the situation.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
Next Story