Guwahati, May 18: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday held a video-conference with his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad Sangma and appealed to the latter to facilitate smooth movement of relief goods and material being sent by the Assam government to flood-hit districts of Barak Valley through roads passing through the hill state.
Sangma has subsequently assured the Assam government of all support and cooperation from his side to ensure availability of essential commodities for the flood-affected population of Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj districts.
It may be mentioned that owing to the severance of road connectivity between the Brahmaputra and Barak Valley owing to landslides and flood-water inundating the highways within Assam, majority of the relief material to the Barak Valley are being sent through the roadways passing through Meghalaya.
The video conference was also attended by Assam water resources minister Pijush Hazarika, along with the chief secretaries and senior officials of both states, including all deputy commissioners of Meghalaya.
In another meeting on the current flood scenario that was chaired by the Assam chief minister, directions were issued to the concerned officials and departments to ensure there was no shortage of essential commodities among the population in the flood-affected districts.
The chief minister also asked the deputy commissioner of Cachar to stockpile essential food and other commodities for at least 15 days, owing to the grim flood scenario in the district. He also directed officials concerned to set-up “round-the-clock control rooms” for the three districts of Barak Valley so as to ensure minute-to-minute monitoring and quickest responses to requests from flood-affected quarters.
The chief minister also directed the deputy commissioner of Jorhat district to urgently dispatch essential relief materials to the worst-affected Cachar district by Thursday.
Concerned at the road blockades owing to landslides and flood-water inundating national and state highways, the chief minister also directed the commissioner of public works department to do the needful for smooth vehicular movements in those roads at the earliest.
The senior officials of the Army and Air Force who were present in today’s series of meetings also informed the Chief Minister about steps the two forces have taken in order to help the administration deal with the impact of the flood.
Special flight service
Chief minister Sarma also informed of a significant Cabinet decision on Wednesday that keeping in mind the hassles faced by stranded people in Barak valley, a memorandum has been signed with Flybig to initiate a Silchar-Guwahati flight service for the next 10 days at a subsidised fare of Rs 3000 per trip.
“The additional expense would be given to the airline as a subsidy, the Cabinet decided today. Between 70 and 100 passengers per day can avail the service in the next 10 days. Special counters will be opened for availing tickets at the Cachar DC’s office and ATDC office in Paltan Bazar here. Tickets can also be availed online,” Sarma said.