HIMANTA BISWA, AMIT SHAH CHAIR REVIEW MEETING OVER ASSAM FLOODS
Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda arrived in Guwahati on Friday evening to attend different programmes in the Northeastern state over the weekend.
Shah and Nadda arrived on separate flights. They were received at the Guwahati airport by chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his cabinet colleagues, Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal, state BJP president Bhabesh Kalita, and party MPs from the state.
After arriving in Guwahati, Shah chaired a meeting with stakeholders in which he reviewed the reasons responsible for recurring floods, and also inspected the steps taken by the state government to tackle the problem.
According to official data, 4,500 km of embankments were constructed during the 50s and 60s, and no reservoirs were constructed during the time.
It is pertinent to mention that no significant investment in flood control was done from the 70s till 2010.
Investment in flood control through Raising & Strengthening (R&S) of embankments was refocused only after 2017, and schemes worth Rs 1,476.1 crore have been taken up under SDRF for flood protection & mitigation from 2017-18 onwards.
In terms of water discharge, Assam’s discharge is ninth highest in the world, and peak discharge in floods is as high as 70,000 cumecs (cubic metres/second).
In sediment transport, Assam stands highest in the world with sediment transport of 700 million metric tons per year.
Union home minister Shah has emphasised on a long-term solution to the perennial issue of floods in the region, and stressed inter-ministerial and inter-departmental coordination for making Assam a flood-free state. The state water resources minister Pijush Hazarika was also present at the meeting along with other stakeholders and officials from various departments.
On Saturday, Shah along with the BJP president JP Nadda will inaugurate the party’s newly-constructed state office at Beltola, and also address a rally of party workers at the Khanapara Veterinary Ground.
Nadda will then depart from the state, while Shah will proceed to hold a meeting on narcotics with the chief ministers, chief secretaries and director-generals of police of Northeastern states.
He will also chair a review meeting on the North Eastern Space Application Centre (NESAC) on Saturday evening.
Shah will offer prayers at Kamakhya Temple on Sunday morning, and address the plenary session of the North East Council (NEC) at the Administrative Staff College.
He will leave for Dergaon in Golaghat district to inaugurate the state-level superintendents of police conference on Sunday afternoon. He will then leave for New Delhi from Jorhat airport. (With inputs from PTI)
