GUWAHATI, July 11 ? With devastating floods creating havoc all over Assam, the Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi has requested the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, to provide an emergency fund of Rs 1200 crore from the Natural Calamity Contingency Fund to deal with the situation. In a memorandum to the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister said that at least eight MI-8 helicopters of the Indian Air Force should be placed at the disposal of the State Government for emergency relief and rescue operations at the cost of the Central Government. He said that a high-powered aerial survey team should be deputed by the Central Government for a survey of the situation and the Railways should be instructed to allot and move additional rakes of essential commodities as the road links have been snapped at various places all over the State. The Centre should also provide at least 300 rubber boats to the State for relief and rescue operations, the memorandum said.
The Chief Minister said that the Government of India should take up the matter of safeguarding the Krusu river dam with the Government of Bhutan as a breach of the same caused high floods in the districts of Barpeta, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon and Chirang districts of the State. He said that the Centre should provide all necessary funds for repairing all the breached embankments and to strengthen the others and also to take up anti-erosion measures. He also demanded that the Brahmaputra Board should be activated immediately. In the memorandum, the Chief Minister gave a detailed account of the damages caused by floods and said that more than two million people of 18 districts of the State have been affected so far. As many as 58 breaches of the embankments took place in different parts of the State, of which, 24 breaches took place during the period from July 6 to 9. He said that there is apprehension of many more breaches as the water level of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries is still rising. An amount of about Rs 145 crore would be required only to repair the breached embankmnents, while an amount of Rs five crore would be required to repair the Sijusa irrigation project in Sonitpur district.
As most parts of the affected districts are under water, it is not possible to make an exact assessment of the damages. However, according to preliminary estimate, the current wave of floods affected more than 2280 villages and ten persons have lost their lives. No details are available on the loss of cattle and poultry population. More than three lakh hectares of cropland have been affected, while more than 10,000 houses were washed away, the memorandum said. The floods also badly damaged road communication, as the National Highways, State highways and the PWD roads have been submerged, while telecommunication links have also been snapped. The State Government has taken up round-the-clock rescue and relief operations, while the Kamrup and Nalbari district administration have taken the help of the Army and Indian Air Force to rescue marooned people.
The memorandum said that the State Government has so far sanctioned Rs 50 crore for distribution of relief material like foodstuff, medicines, drinking water, fodder, etc. The damage to the public assets during the current wave of floods would be not less than Rs 1000 crore though the exact assessment is yet to be made. The memorandum said that the State Government would have to provide rehabilitation grant of Rs 10,000 each to those whose houses were completely damaged, while a grant of Rs 6000 each would have to be provided to those whose houses were partially damaged in floods.