GUWAHATI, July 11 ? For the deluge-affected Guwahatians, some relief is forthcoming. The State Government, concerned over the plight of the residents of the city, has constituted a task force to co-ordinate implementation of short-term and long-term measures to remove the city?s problem of flash flood and sanctioned an amount of Rs 2 crore to activate the four pumps at the Bharalu sluice gate while another amount of Rs 3 crore is being released to press into service two barge-mounted excavators to keep the Bharalu free from silt. This amount is being released from the Central Government?s Non-Lapsable Pool for the NE States.
Disclosing this at a press conference at the secretariat conference room here, State?s Education Minister Pankaj Bora, who represents East Guwahati Legislative Assembly Constituency (LAC) in the State Assembly, told newsmen that being concerned over the problem of artificial flood that is becoming critical day by day, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi held a meeting recently to chalk out long-term and short-term strategies to bail the city out of this miserable state. The meeting facilitated the above steps and moreover, the State Government has already contacted a Holland-based university of technology, which in its turn advised the State Government to requisition the services of the WAPCOS, a leading Indian consultancy firm operating as a Government of India undertaking, for the purpose of carrying out a comprehensive study of the city?s flash flood problem. One engineer from the WAPCOS has already visited the city to make a preliminary study of the problem, Sri Bora apprised.
Claiming that no short-term measure can be of any help for the city in getting rid of its problem of flash flood, Sri Bora said while justifying the step for the study, that 15 years back Guwahati was not flooded, but today the city is so crippled by artificial floods that it needs a systematic study. ?No piecemeal work in this regard is going to serve the city for a long time,? he said. The State Government is very much anxious to mitigate this problem of the city. The task force constituted by the Government has in it Sri MGK Bhanu, Commissioner and Secretary to the Chief Minister as its head. It will work as the nodal agency in implementing the schemes and monitoring the problem.
The other members of the task force are: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and the Commissioner of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC), Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), Kamrup and Additional Superintendent of the City Police. Besides Sri Bhanu, Sri Vijeyandra, who is holding both the posts of CEO, GMDA and Commissioner, GMC, Sri SK Roy, ADC, Kamrup and Sri PS Mahanta, ASP, city, were also present in the press conference. The task force has already started monitoring work, Sri Bora said, adding, the long-term measures for resolving the city?s flood problem are expected to be implemented by November next.
In reply to a question, he said that the long-term measures for removing the city?s flash flood problem (i.e. a scientific drainage system) would cover the aspect of sewerage also. So far, Guwahati, a B-Class city, does not have a sewerage system. When asked for his comments on the allegation of the HUDCO authorities that they could not advance the entire amount of the Rs 70 crore loan for the Rs 96-crore Guwahati Metropolitan Area Storm Drainage Improvement Programme, as the State Government had failed to give fresh commitment in matters of repayment of the HUDCO loans drawn by several government agencies, Sri Bora said that the ?HUDCO matter? was being settled. He also said, in reply to a query, that the city lacked a single agency to work as a nodal agency for its development and it had been the experience of the Government that government agencies lacked transparency in matters of implementing the development schemes. The city roads are also being improved in a phased manner, he said in reply to another query.