All India United Democratic Front chief Badruddin Ajmal has asked the Centre to release 1,000 crore rupees for relief efforts.
Dispur: Bringing up the ongoing floods in Assam during a zero hour in parliament on Thursday, All India United Democratic Front chief Badruddin Ajmal said that the Centre should release a minimum of 1,000 crore rupees to help the state with relief efforts. He also asked that the floods and erosion in Assam be deemed a ‘national calamity’, and that the Centre make efforts to find a permanent solution to the problem.
According to an official release by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, nearly one lakh people have been affected by the floods so far in the districts of Jorhat, Sivasagar, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Cachar and Charaideo.
So far about 13,000 hectares of crop area is under water in the state, reports say. Train services on the Silchar-Lumding-Guwahati line are seriously affected due to landslides at four places between Lumding and Badarpur. Authorities have opened a total of 40 relief camps in Sivasagar, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh and Charaideo, and 7,412 inmates have already taken shelter there.
Arunachal Pradesh is also badly hit by the rains. Parts of Nagaland, Mizoram and Tripura have received rainfall and hailstorm.
Last year, Assam floods affected 1.5 million people in nearly 1,600 villages. Close to 50 people were reported dead. However, pre-monsoon floods like the ones being witnessed now are a rarer occurrence.