Prime Minister Narendra Modi today undertook a review of the flood situation in north eastern states and announced an assistance of over Rs 2,000 crore for the region. The Prime Minister arrived in Guwahati, the capital of Assam, where he chaired several high-level meetings to take stock of the flood situation.
Through the course of the day, the Prime Minister held separate, detailed review meetings on the situation in the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland. The Chief Ministers of the respective states, and senior officials were present at the meetings. A memorandum was received from the Chief Minister of Mizoram, who could not make it to the meeting in person.
The Prime Minister announced the package for relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction and flood mitigation measures in the flood-affected north-eastern states.
As part of the package, over Rs. 1200 crore will be given by the Union government for the infrastructure sector alone. The funds will be utilized for repair, maintenance, and strengthening of roads, highways, bridges, and other damaged infrastructure.
Around Rs. 400 crore will be provided for improving the water holding capacity of the Brahmaputra River, which will assist in flood control.
In the current financial year, the Centre has approved Rs. 600 crore as central share of SDRF. Out of this, Rs. 345 crore has already been released, and the remaining will be released immediately, to assist the states in relief and rehabilitation work.
The Centre will also provide Rs. 100 crore for carrying out a study to synergize efforts towards finding time-bound long term solutions to recurrent floods in the region.
The north-eastern region, with 8 per cent of India’s land area, contains one-third of the country’s water resources. The Centre has said it will constitute a high-level committee, with representation from ministries of the Government of India and the states, for proper management of the region’s vast water resources.
An ex-gratia assistance of Rs. 2 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased, and Rs. 50,000 to each of those seriously injured due to the floods, has been sanctioned under the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF).
(With agencies)
