GUWAHATI, June 28: Assam water resources minister Pijush Hazarika on Tuesday informed that work to reconstruct embankments that were breached in floods this season would be preponed to mid-November.
Informing mediapersons here, Hazarika said a decision was taken during a meeting with water resources and revenue department officials on Monday to start the reconstruction work by November 15 and not leave it till January next year.
“It was decided in the meeting that contractors to be engaged in the work would be empanelled and work orders would be given to start construction of the embankments on a war footing by mid-November itself and complete the work by February,” the minister said.
He further said that such work needed to be started by September but the areas where the embankments are located remain inaccessible till that time.
The minister informed that as many as 28 embankments were breached in the first wave of floods, mainly owing to unprecedented rainfall in the state and its neighbouring areas.
Silchar situation
Meanwhile, Assam public health engineering minister Jayanta Malla Baruah reviewed the condition in flood-ravaged Silchar and other adjoining areas at the Cachar deputy commissioner’s office on Tuesday.
Baruah took stock of the entire flood situation from senior district and DDMA officials and instructed all the related departments to work in co-ordination to ensure proper supply and distribution of relief material, supply of animal feed, restoration of power supply, evacuation of flood victims if necessary and also ensure proper assessment of damaged properties.
“This is an unprecedented crisis and this place has never seen such a devastating flood before. Officials are working hard on ground but some errors need to be rectified to ensure efficient and smooth dealing of the crisis,” the minister said.
He also instructed the PHE officials to continue building temporary toilets and also fit emergency tube-wells in areas facing water crisis owing to power cuts.
Baruah further asked the officials to manage the situation at the micro level to ensure all human habitations have access to flood relief measures. NDRF teams have been asked to transport relief items in boats to remote areas which have lost physical communication.
It may be mentioned that chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had, during his second stock-taking visit to Silchar on Sunday, assured that the flood situation in the Cachar district headquarters would be constantly monitored in the next few days.
