From our Staff Reporter

DIBRUGARH, July 3: The Centre should declare Assam flood problem as a national problem, demanded the national general secretary of BJP, Kiran Maheswari, during a press meet held here yesterday. She came down upon the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi, and the Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi, for resorting to aerial survey to view the situation instead of reaching out to the affected people and interacting with them personally.

The BJP office-bearer was here for two days who visited flood affected areas in Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts. She met the administrative officials of the district also.

Maheswari called on the Central Government to view the problem in a sensitive manner and seek out a permanent solution to it. She also said that the farmers, who have become landless after losing their land to erosion, should be given five bighas each so that they can lead a respectable life. The BJP general secretary demanded that the basic facilities should be provided to the villagers.

Narrating her experiences during her visit, Maheswari said that she met the people of Laika in the relief camp at Borguri High School and they told her about the lack of basic amenities like road and electricity in the Dibru Saikhowa National Park. They revealed their willingness to relocate if provided land, she added. The BJP office-bearer claimed that the people said no people’s representative had visited them. She then talked about her visit to Bogibeel area. Referring to the Bogibeel Ring Bund built at a cost of Rs 72 lakh, she asserted that it looked like not even Rs 4 lakh had been spent on it. The stretch with geo bags should be extended from the present 2.4 kilometres to nine kilometres at Rohmoria, Maheswari demanded. She said that steps should be taken to increase the depth of River Brahmaputra.

The BJP secretary questioned the sincerity of Dr Manmohan Singh towards solving the problems of the State from which he has been elected to the Rajya Sabha. She said that he made a promise during his first term in 2005 and has failed to fulfill it even after three and a half years of his second term has passed.