Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh government on Monday released Rs 2 crore to Tawang district for relief and restoration work including ex-gratia payment to the next of kin of the deceased who died in landslides in the border district.
The government also released a relief fund of Rs 1 crore each to the flood-affected districts of Namsai, Lower, Subansiri, Changlang and Anjaw besides additional relief fund of Rs 30 lakh to all the DCs and Rs 10 lakh to all the ADC headquarters, an official report said here.
Chief Minister Kalikho Pul accompanied by in charge chief secretary Hage Khoda, disaster management commissioner Hage Kojeen and disaster management director Y W Ringu made an unsuccessful attempt to visit Tawang district on Sunday despite bad weather.
The team had to return back to Guwahati Airport due to inclement weather as packed cloud over the Bhutan Valley en-route to Tawang had blurred visibility and deterred further movement of the helicopter, the report said.
Pul said that occurrence of landslides and flash flood in the state is predominant as the state is situated in a seismically high risk zone frequented with heavy rainfall.
"Presence of hilly terrains, steep slopes, loose and sandy soil and presence of multiple rivers, rivulets and small streams make our state more prone to such natural calamities," he said.
He called upon the people to learn a lesson from recent incidents of landslides at Tawang that caused loss of 18 lives and the water logging at Hotel PYBSS at Itanagar that blocked the National Highway 415 for several days due to obstruction of natural flow of drain water by randomly built houses at drains/nallahs, bypassing building laws in the state.
"If the faults are not corrected in time and precautions are not taken, such high rise buildings are in danger and may collapse anytime risking lives of many people," he pointed out.
The Chief Minister appealed to the people to take precautionary measures and to always remain prepared. He called upon the people not to wait for disaster to happen saying, "even God cannot safe after it happens".
