Agony continues...
After making an aerial survey of the flood affected areas the Prime Minister acknowledged that the situation was very serious.

THOUGH It’s the same old story. Once again Assam and parts of North-East have been devastated by floods. Nearly 200 lives were lost. Properties worth crore were destroyed. The State Government is hepless. As usual it is singing the same old banal song. On one hand it is demanding Central assistance to control the flood menace and on the other is claiming that its machinery is working overtime to reduce the plight of the flood affected people. The only silver lining among large scale devastation is the announcement of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh that the Centre will constitute a task force to recommend measures for permanent solution of the flood menace. Clearly, it’s a departure from the past. In 1991, the then prime minister P. V. Narasimha Rao categorically stated in Rajya Sabha that because of paucity of funds the Centre is not in a position to take measures to tame the mighty Brahmaputra.

But during his maiden visit to Assam after becoming the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh revealed that a task force would be constituted to tackle the recurring problem. The task force will submit its report before the next Uuion budget. After making an aerial survey of the flood affected areas of the State, Dr. Singh acknowledged that indeed the situation was very serious and the Central Government would extend all possible help to the State to get rid of the crisis.

“Assam and North East needs a permanent solution to this problem that devastates the people of the region every year. Hence, the task force will study the problem in totality and suggest short term, middle term and as well as long term measures to prevent the same,” said the Prime Minister.      

‘’Floods are an annual, recurring feature and we need to address this as such. For 50 years no solution had been found to the problem. 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,’’ Dr Singh said. “My emphasis will be on finding a long term solution that will tackle the problem at its source, while at the same time take short term measures to strengthen flood control so that immediate relief is offered,’’ he said. He also informed that two major projects, Lower Subansiri and Pagladia, which are of critical importance in solving the flood problem, had been approved by the Centre. ‘’In co-operation with the affected states, the Centre will try to hasten the implementation of the projects,’’ he added. The Assam Government has demanded for a grant of 2156 crore from the Centre to take up the damage control measures and provide relief. The Centre has already released Rs. 101 crore from the Calamity Relief Fund. However, the total amount of aid will be decided only after the visit of a Central team.

What is intriguing is the fact that despite having satellite imageries of rain-clouds massing over Sikkim, Bhutan, Arunachal Pradesh and Tibet days before torrential rains inundated the Brahmaputra and its tributaries, resulting in one of the worst floods in recent history,  IMD had failed to issue any flood warning to Assam and other NE states. An early warning might not be able to prevent the floods, but surely the damages could have been minimised.

Meanwhile, altogether 33 people have lost their lives in Nalbari and Sivasagar districts due to various water-borne diseases during the floods. Following improvement in the flood situation in Nalbari district, water-borne diseases like diarrhoea, dysentery and fever have assumed alarming proportions and so far claimed at least 15 lives in different parts of the worst flood-affected areas. Moreover, at least 12 people have died in Sivsagar district.

Allegations have been levelled against misappropriation relief materials by some lower rank officials and volunteers of some political parties. These “volunteers” have made entry into the hastily-formed relief committees of the district. There are even no committees for distributing the relief materials, it is alleged. The situation is anomalous to say the least, said officials on condition of anonymity. The Bharatiya Janata Party has also alleged widespread corruption, discrimination and irregularities in distributing relief materials among the flood victims. V Satish, in-charge of the North-East of the BJP, said here that corruption, nepotism have taken place in the name of giving relief materials to the flood victims in Barpeta district after visiting the flood affected areas of the district. A BJP team, led by Mr Satish, visited the flood affected areas namely Barpeta Road, Sarbhog Mandal, Gobandhana Mandal, Bajali Block Mandal, Bhabanipur, Sarthebari and Barpeta town recently. The BJP said that the flood victims have allegedly blamed Mr Samsul Haque, a Congress MLA of having remained callous to the need of the flood affected people in his constituency.

Apart from this, as much as 19.5 quintals of rice, which was sanctioned for the areas of Kalapani Gaon, Fatemaba Tea Estate, was allegedly taken back by compelling the BDO of the area by Mr Haque with sinister motives. This act by the MLA has been greatly resented by the people. The Bharatiya Janata Party and Asom Gana Parishad Lok Sabha MPs from Assam and Arunachal Pradesh staged a dharna in front of Parliament house demanding declaration of flood as a national problem and seeking immediate relief for flood victims in the two states. Shouting slogans against the alleged neglect by the Centre towards the flood victims of the two states, the MPs demanded immediate relief for the thousands affected by unprecedented floods. They also demanded that floods be declared as a national problem. It may be mentioned here that the Centre has already announced a package of Rs 181 crore for the flood victims of Assam.

The same view was echoed by almost all the political parties. Cutting across party lines, the political parties and organisations in Assam have urged the Prime Minister to declare Assam flood as national calamity. However, the demand is yet to get any positive response from the Centre. In its memorandum, the Assam Government urges the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to accord priority to this problem in the national level. Submitting the memorandum, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi requests the Centre to release at least Rs 1,200 crore as interim Central Grant to deal with the post-flood situation in Assam.

The memorandum details the devastation caused by the floods and the estimated funds required for the State to tide over the devastation caused. Opposition Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) too in its memorandum seeks the Prime Minister’s intervention to declare the perennial problem as a national calamity. The regional party say in their memorandum, they seeks Centre’s active role for permanent solution to this problem.

“The State Government itself can never do it and therefore, the Centre must come forward to address this need,” said the  AGP leaders. The Assam BJP unit too, seeks steps to declare Assam flood as national calamity in view of the gravity of the problem.

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