Heavy incessant rain in Siang belt of Arunachal Pradesh triggered landslides and blocked roads while in Assam 12 districts continued to reel under floods despite the overall situation improving considerably on Thursday.
In Arunachal, landslides blocked the road at Jukik in East Siang district, hampering people’s movement, including that of students and patients. Transportation has been temporarily suspended for the past few weeks. Incessant rain has affected normal life in Siang with no respite in sight.
Executive engineer (PWD), Nari division, Joy Koyu, said they are coordinating with the district administration to restore communication on the road at the earliest. Two JCVs and adequate manpower have been pressed into service, despite the inclement weather.
The flood situation in Assam, where 86 people have died in the deluge, improved considerably on Thursday as water levels of all major rivers started receding. A statement of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority said 12 districts are still affected, impacting 3.64 lakh people of whom 3,705 are taking shelter in 33 relief camps.
However, the Brahmaputra is still flowing above the danger level at Neematighat in Jorhat. The Dhansiri, Jia Bharali and the Beki are flowing above the danger marks in Golaghat, Sonitpur and Barpeta respectively.
AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal, who met chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Thursday, demanded national disaster tag for the state’s flood and erosion problem to combat it in a better way.
“I have always raised my voice in Parliament that the flood and erosion problem of Assam should be taken seriously by the Centre. When Rajnath Singh was the Union home minister, he told me to take a cabinet decision on the matter in Assam and send the proposal to the Centre. So, I have come to meet the chief minister to request him for a cabinet decision,” Ajmal told reporters inside the secretariat after meeting Sonowal.
Ajmal said Sonowal told him that the government has sent a demand of Rs 20,000 crore to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for combating flood and erosion in Assam.
“I welcome the move. If this happens, it will greatly help to solve the problem,” he added.
He said his Ajmal Foundation and Markazul Maarif have handed over cheques for Rs 10 lakh and Rs 5 lakh respectively towards the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund apart from individual contributions by AIUDF legislators.
Several other individuals and organisations contributed to the fund on Thursday.
The Mother Teresa Social Welfare Mission of Krishnakanta Handique State Open University, led by vice-chancellor Hitesh Deka, gave Rs 5 lakh, chief executive officer of Shivam Transcom Pvt Ltd, Pritam Hazarika, gave Rs 5 lakh, the Assam transport department Rs 8.03 lakh, Guwahati Municipal Corporation’s four unions Rs 1.21 lakh, Assam Hydrocarbon and Energy Company Ltd Rs 2 lakh, entrepreneur Himankan Das Rs 30,000, Assam Tea Corporation Ltd Rs 1.55 lakh, various organisations and individuals of Diphu Rs 2 lakh, Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council Rs 681,108, the teachers of Sarala Birla Gyan Jyoti Rs 51,000 and a student of the school, Rashit Kejriwal, Rs 5,100.
Minister Parimal Suklabaidya gave Rs 1 lakh, deputy Speaker Aminul Haque Laskar Rs 1 lakh, Barkhola MLA Kishor Nath Rs 81,000, Patharkandi MLA Krishnendu Paul Rs 1 lakh, Barkhetri MLA Narayan Deka Rs 1 lakh, Nagaon MLA Rupak Sarmah Rs 50,000 and Sadia MLA a month’s salary.
In Meghalaya, a flood relief campaign was organised by the Rotaract Club of North-Eastern Hill University (Nehu) at Haribanga village in Selsella, West Garo Hills district, on Thursday. They distributed relief materials to more than 200 households in flood-affected village. The campaign was supported by Rotary Club of Orchid City, Shillong, Saindur Enviro Pvt Ltd, Shillong, Nehu’s faculty, staff, research scholars and students as well as individuals from outside the campus.
Additional reporting by Rokibuz Zaman and Abdul Gani in Guwahati, Vinod Kumar Singh in Dhemaji and Andrew W. Lyngdoh in Shillong
