The Union Minister first made an aerial survey of the Garo Hills region of Meghalaya. “I will hold a meeting with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday and brief him about the situation in Assam and Meghalaya,” Rijiju told reporters.
Singh would visit the two States on October 1 to take stock of the situation, the Arunachal Pradesh MP said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be announcing a package after his return from the United States, he said.
“Whatever is necessary in this natural calamity of Assam and Meghalaya will be done and they will get adequate financial and material support from the Central Government. We will work as partners,” he said.
There should be better and faster coordination between the Central and State agencies in handling floods, besides strengthening of disaster forces, Rijiju said in Guwahati.
He said, “First, the information of the forecast and dissemination of impending danger or natural disaster should reach faster to the States and ground level officials. Secondly, we need to strengthen our forces.”
“I want to have more coordination in the Ministry. The cloudburst and flash floods, which happened in northern part of Meghalaya and because of which this damage happened, could have been warned a little bit more earlier and more precisely,” Rijiju said.
On strengthening of disaster response force, he said four NDRF teams were brought from other regions and the Union Government was planning to have one more permanent centre in the NE apart from Guwahati.
“We’ll decide that on the basis of location. Guwahati will take care of its surroundings and we’ll decide one more location very soon,” the Union Minister said.
Currently, 12 teams of NDRF have been deployed for the floods in Assam and Meghalaya, each comprising 50 members.
Tura Correspondent adds: As per a report prepared by the West Garo Hills district adminisitration, the Rongai Valley Medium Irrigation Project in the plain belt of West Garo Hills has suffered extensive damages. The district administration has pegged an amount of Rs 31.25 lakh for its temporary restoration and Rs 68 lakh for permanent restoration.
It also provides specific details of damages to roads and bridges under Tura North Division and Ampati Division. The cost of temporary restoration for Tura North Division has been pegged at Rs 1545.36 lakh and permanent restoration at Rs 3893 lakh.
A total of 6,335 hectares of paddy fields and 500 hectares of jute have been destroyed in the worst deluge to hit the region. It also includes damages to horticulture crops, fishery, livestock and poultry.
The report also stated that 30,484 houses were affected in West Garo Hills and a total of 30,484 persons are taking shelter in 24 relief camps, reduced from the original 27.
Source: Assam Tribune
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