Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to visit the recent flood-hit areas of Assam and Meghalaya on Wednesday.
Singh, who will be accompanied by the Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju, is likely to make an aerial survey of Goalpara and Kamrup (Rural) districts of Assam and also expected to see the damages in Garo Hills region of Meghalaya from helicopter.Four districts of Assam —Goalpara, Kamrup (Metro), Kamrup (Rural) and Dhubri districts — have been severely affected by a recent flood while the flash floods have also affected vast areas in Garo Hills region of Meghalaya. While at least 40 people were killed in Assam, the flash floods have so far killed over 50 lives in Meghalaya’s Garo Hills.
The flood situation in Kamrup (Rural), Golapara, Kamrup (Metro) and Dhubri districts — which were affected badly during the last flood two weeks back — have, however, improved considerably. At least 40 people were killed in the four districts, officials said.
Assam has suffered huge losses in terms of lives, property, cropped land, dwelling units and infrastructure as three waves of flood hit at least 23 districts of the State. According to the statistics of the State Government, a total of 67 people have lost their lives. According to the statistics, over 42 lakh people of the State have been affected and the floods have impacted 4,446 villages.
“While 54,088 houses have been fully damaged, 82,095 houses partially damaged,” said the officials of the Revenue and Disaster Management while adding that details of destruction of the last deluge in four districts—Goalpara, Kamrup (Rural), Kamrup (Metro) and Dhubri are being complied.
The officials added that a total of 800 relief camps have been opened during the three waves of floods and that it housed 7,57,467 inmates. Close to four lakh hectare of cropped area has been affected during the floods while over ten lakh livestock has been affected.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has already demanded a special package of Rs1,000 crore to help the flood hit people and build the infrastructure damaged by the floods and added that a Group of Ministers (GoM) will be constituted soon to study the causes of devastation wrecked by the current wave of floods in Kamrup and Goalpara districts and to suggest suitable and effective measures for mitigating the risk of flooding.