Assam Chief Secretary reviews current Flood and Landslide situation in Assam
Guwahati, Rongili Barta : A review meeting was held at Chief Secretary’s Conference Hall today for stocktaking of the current situation in Dima Hasao, Hojai, Cachar and other Barak Valley districts in the State affected due to severe Flood and Landslide since last few days. Pressing issues that have been discussed in the meeting were maintenance of supplies of essential food items to the affected districts especially Dima Hasao, reopening of the National Highway connected to the affected districts, uninterrupted electricity supply and maintaining the communication network (voice & data).
Addressing to the present challenges, Chief Secretary of Assam, Jishnu Barua, IAS, has taken the following decisions:
1. National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) was requested to restore the road connectivity from Guwahati to Haflong with immediate effect so that supplies and other essential commodities can be sent to the Dima Hasao district.
2. Indian Air Force (IAF) was requested to airdrop the most essential supplies like rice, daal, and medicines to Dima Hasao district by tomorrow.
3. 35 stranded railway employees and their families along with left out passengers at the New Haflong railway station would also be rescued with the help of IAF.
4. DC Dima Hasao to supply 200 L of fuel to the BSNL Authority immediately at Duiyang Microwave Station for restoring the communication network.
5. Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) will also use the services of drones/satellite data to ascertain the loss and damage data of the district.
6. The rescue operation of the stranded people and supply of relief materials has been started through 20 rubber boats with the help of SDRF and Army in Hojai district.
7. DCs of Hojai, Karimganj and Cachar districts are instructed to have regular meetings with the Chamber of Commerce, Suppliers and merchants for the smooth maintenance of supplies.
8. However, connectivity remains an issue due to multiple landslides in the Guwahati-Silchar road via Meghalaya. DC, Cachar was also assured to resolve the issue of air fare hike with the help of Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC).
Following the review meeting, CS also had a video conference with all the DCs of the State on Flood Preparedness. As per the daily flood data,
A. 403352 populations in 26 districts have been affected in the last 24 hrs in the State.
B. 89 relief camps and relief distribution centers have been open in all affected areas.
C. A total of 39558 inmates are staying in these relief camps.
D. Till date, 08 human lives (3 in flood, 5 in landslide) have been lost.
The review meeting was also attended by Biswa Ranjan Samal, IAS, Addl. Chief Secretary to the Govt. of Assam, Niraj Verma, IAS, Principal Secretary, Govt. of Assam, G.D.Tripathi, IAS, Commissioner & Secretary, Revenue & DM Dept., Rakesh Kumar, IAS, MD, APDCL and key stakeholders from IAF, NHAI, Indian Army, NDRF, SDRF, FCI, NHIDCL, NF Railway, District Administration, Kamrup Metro, Food & Civil Supply, PWD (Roads), BSNL and ASDMA Officials.