From Our Correspondent
Guwahati: Moved by the immense plight of lakhs of flood-hit people in the State, Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has instructed the Government of Assam to constitute a three-member high-level inquiry committee to probe into the functioning of Assam Water Resources Department that is responsible for prevention of flood in the State by constructing and maintaining flood-control infrastructure including river ban embankments.
The AHRC directive has been issued by a two-member Division Bench of the Commission comprising chairperson Justice (retired) Dr Aftab Hussain Saikia and member Jyoti Prasad Chaliha.
The AHRC directed Assam’s chief secretary to constitute the three-member committee headed by an officer not below the rank of additional chief secretary and include at least one technical expert. The inquiry committee should submit report within three months from the day of its constitution.
The AHRC directive came in the wake of the commission taking suo moto congnizance of the plight of lakhs of people in Assam reeling under flood as reported in newspapers and failure of Assam Water Resources Department to mitigate flood and save people of the State from flood related devastation though both Assam government and the Centre provided it with crores of Rupees for the purpose.
A spokesman of the AHRC informed that accusing the Assam Water Resources Department of “wholesale violation of human right of most tragic dimension” in the recent devastating floods, the two-member division bench of the Commission (AHRC) asked for the inquiry into the functioning of Assam Water Resources department.
The AHRC expressed grave concern over the reported ‘looting of several hundred crores of rupees’ by a section of unscrupulous officials of the Assam Water Resources Department which resulted in indescribable suffering, hardship and destitution of lakhs of people besides loss of well over a hundred lives and countless animal deaths.
“The committee will inquire into the entire gamut of issues related to the working of the department including technical and financial aspects in the worst flood-affected districts of Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Barpeta, Nalbari and Cachar districts during the years between 2005-06 and 2011-12, and would submit the report before the Commission within 12 weeks, ” an AHRC source informed.
“According to the news report, this department remains in slumber during the major part of the year when weather condition is suitable for work but wakes up just before the onset of the flood season and whatever little work is done is washed away by the flood,” the AHRC observed.
“But the department officials show huge amount of money as spent although an infinitesimal amount of the money is spent in reality and the lion’s share of money claimed to have been spent in reality is siphoned off to the pockets of the unscrupulous officials of the AWRD,” it added.