GUWAHATI: The Golaghat district administration plans to submit the final list of beneficiaries eligible for flood rehabilitation grant to the state government by September 20 even as it is in constant touch with officials of North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) over release of water from its Doyang hydel project in neighbouring Nagaland.
Over 80,000 people in more than 110 villages under five circles of the Upper Assam district were affected in the deluge since the last week of July.
“The rehabilitation grant to the flood affected people in the district is under process and the final assessment/verification will be made only after the circle offices provide us the beneficiary details including their bank account numbers. Thereafter, the final list will be prepared and subsequently submitted to the government for sanction of funds under the grant,” an official source told The Shillong Times on Sunday.
The district administration will discuss and finalise the rehabilitation grant plan during a meeting on September 5.
“The bank details are important as we have to transfer the money to the account numbers of the heads of the affected families once the money is sanctioned. The process will take time as some villages are still under water. But we are tentatively planning to submit the beneficiary list by September 20 after assessment and verification,” he said.
Till Saturday afternoon, nine villages in the district were submerged in the floodwaters with the Dhansiri still flowing over danger level (78.42m). District disaster management authority (DDMA) sources told this correspondent that a population of 2,425 is still affected by the deluge and some are housed in three relief camps. “The situation is improving,” a DDMA official said.
Asked whether the damaged houses have been repaired, the source said that the partially damaged habitations have been repaired. “The damages have been relatively less and organisations have also chipped in to offer help,” he said.
On the coordination with NEEPCO, the DDMA official said that as of today, only two radial gates of the Doyang reservoir have been opened to release the excess rain water.
“The district administration is in constant touch with the NEEPCO authorities in Nagaland. However, we have asked them to inform us in advance about the quantum of water to be released so that we are prepared for taking precautionary measures,” he said.
“As it is, we have deployed volunteers to alert people if there is a flood threat,” he added.
NEEPCO, it may be noted, is compelled to release excess rain water if the Doyang reservoir level rises above 324 metres. It may be mentioned that the deluge in Golaghat district took a turn for the worse after four gates were opened on July 27 to release excess rainwater from the reservoir.