GUWAHATI, July 20 ? Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh said today that the Central Government should take ?active steps? to address Assam?s problem of floods. The problem has a regional as well as an international dimension. The Central Government will definitely take up the issue at the international level too, he told media persons at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi Airport here this afternoon. A holistic approach to solve the problem was needed, he said, apprising the media persons that he was going to constitute a Task Force to look into the problem of recurrent floods in Assam and neighbouring States. The Task Force will suggest short-term and long-term measures, sources of funding and institutional arrangements for tackling this problem. The Task Force will submit its report in six months so that the problem and the resource involvement needed to solve it could be reflected in the next Union Budget, said the Prime Minister.
?We need to find an abiding solution to this problem, which visits the people of Assam like a scourge and causes untold devastation and distress,? he said. Explaining the abiding solution to the problem, he said that the solution consisted of upstream solutions in the catchment areas and downstream solutions in the form of flood control measures. ?My emphasis will be finding long-term solutions which tackle the problem at its source in the long run while at the same time, taking short-term measures to strengthen flood control and end erosion so that immediate relief is offered,? he said.
Laying stress on taking the NE region in its entirety for development planning, he said that Assam was the most important constituent of this region. The Central Government has the commitment for social and economic development of this region, he said assertively. The Lower Subansiri and Pagladiya projects were of critical importance in solving the flood problem of Assam to some extent. The Union Cabinet has approved these. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government at the Centre, in cooperation with the affected States, will try to hasten the implementation of these projects, he said.
?It is my assurance that no effort will be lacking on our part to see that these multi-purpose projects become the boon for Assam and its people,? the Prime Minister said. On the Brahmaputra Board, he said that for the first time the Union Government had made a mention of the work of flood control being done by the Brahmaputra Board and other bodies in the latest Union Budget. An initial provision of Rs 30 crore has been made in the Budget for that purpose, he said and announced that the Brahmaputra Board would be revamped to make it more effective.
Admitting that the funds released so far by the Central Government to the State for meeting the challenge thrown by the flood was not enough, he said that the Central Government would send a Central Team to assess the actual damage caused by the current floods. This will be done as soon as the State Government indicates its readiness to receive the Team, he said. The funds, which will be released on the basis of the recommendations of the Team from the National Calamity Relief Fund, will provide, among others, Rs 10,000 for each of the completely damaged houses and Rs 6,000 for each of the partially damaged houses, in addition to the relief for damage to crops and fields, the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister made an aerial survey of some of the flood-affected areas of the State before addressing the media persons. He was of the view that the flood-related ground situation in the State was serious. Significantly, this was the maiden visit of Dr Singh, a Rajya Sabha member from the State, after his assuming the charge of the Prime Minister in May last.