Sonowal visits flood-hit at Bolbola
Guwahati: Fresh heavy rainfall in Garo Hills areas in Meghalaya as well as Goalpara district has worsened the flood situation n western Assam.
The district administration in Goalpara apprehending fresh flash flood has sounded fresh alert and called upon people living in foothills areas of Garo Hills to shift to highland areas.
Union Minister of State for Youth and Sports, Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday visited flood-devastated Bolbola areas in Goalpara district to take stock of the situation there and inspect the relief operations.
While Sonowal travelled there by road, Union Minister of State for Home , Khiren Rjiju who was scheduled to go there by helicopter, had to cancel his flood stock-taking visit to Goalpara because of inclement weather.
Sonowal whole assuring all possible help from the Centre to the flood-hit state accused Assam government of not responding very prompt to the crisis that was precipitated by the flash flood in Goalpara and Kamrup districts where 30 out of the total 37 flood deaths reported from.
He said the state government had about Rs 344 crore allocated by the Centre under the Disaster Relief Fund and there was no dearth of money for the immediate relief operation.
He informed that the Central; government was ready to release more fund for the welfare of flood-hit people in the event of submission of specific demands by the state government.
Meanwhile, railway services have been disrupted in the Assam because of the flood situation. Hundreds of passengers were stranded in various railway stations because of cancellation of several trains.
A spokesman of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) informed that total twelve trains had been cancelled on Friday besides partial cancellation and diversion of few other trains.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had to call of his visit to flood-hit Goalpara district as the chopper he was travelling in from Guwahati had to return after failing to land in Goalpara because of heavy rain.