Himanta to tour worst-hit districts as flood situation improves in Assam

The flood situation in Assam improved slightly, with the number of affected people coming down to 1.78 lakh even though the count of districts hit by the deluge increased to seven, officials said on Sunday. The toll remained unchanged at 82 as no fresh fatalities were reported in the state in the last 24 hours, they said. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma visited the worst-hit areas from Sunday, even as the Centre sanctioned over Rs 370 crore under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), the officials said.

A total of 349 villages in Golaghat, Sivasagar, Charaideo, Bajali, Dhemaji, Sonitpur and Jorhat districts remained affected by the deluge. Charaideo was the worst-hit, with 75,199 people affected, followed by 58,824 in Sivasagar.

A total of five districts and 1.92 lakh people were affected on Friday.

Forty-four relief camps were operational in the State, providing shelter to around 15,000 displaced people. Another 17 relief distribution centres were also working, catering to 5,569 people.

A crop area of 15,060 hectares remained submerged, while 1,543 animals were washed away and another 6,765 were affected.

Sarma expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for extending all assistance to the flood-hit State.

“The approval of Rs 379.35 cr under the SDRF and the timely deputation of Inter-Ministerial Central Teams to Assam reflect the Centre’s unwavering commitment to standing with our people,” Sarma said in a post on social media.

The CM will be touring the affected districts to oversee the relief work and ensure that proper damage assessment is done.

“In a short while from now, I will be reaching Dibrugarh and thereafter to the flood-affected areas to meet the people, oversee ongoing relief efforts and lay the groundwork for a foolproof assessment exercise to ensure appropriate compensation to the affected,” he said.

Sarma had reviewed the relief and rehabilitation work in the worst-hit four districts in a virtual meeting from Guwahati on Saturday.

“CM @himantabiswa today reviewed the ongoing relief and rehabilitation efforts in the flood-affected districts of Sivasagar, Charaideo, Jorhat and Golaghat with the respective District Commissioners,” the chief minister’s office (CMO) said in a social media post.

The Chief Minister directed the DCs to expedite the submission of the list of affected families to enable the release of financial assistance from August 3, ensure uninterrupted distribution of relief kits, complete damage assessment of educational institutions ahead of the reopening of schools on August 10 and submit the list of damaged ‘Namghars’ (Vaishnavite centres of prayer) for early restoration support. “HCM also informed that the comprehensive flood damage assessment will begin on August 9,” the CMO added.