A CORRESPONDENT
NAZIRA: Sivasagar MLA and Raijor Dal President Akhil Gogoi on Thursday held a high-level meeting with senior officials of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), Assam Asset, at its headquarters in Nazira.
The discussion focused on seeking urgent relief for people devastated by the catastrophic Dikhow river floods of July 19 that hit Upper Assam.
Gogoi met ONGC Assam Asset Executive Director and Asset Manager Uday Paswan, along with senior officials from various departments. During the meeting, he placed a five-point set of demands for flood-affected families, which included a Rs 50-crore allocation for improving the drainage system of Sivasagar town, removal of garbage and debris from flood-affected areas of Sivasagar, Nazira, Sonari, and Jorhat, supply of iron pipes for reconstruction of iron bridges washed away or damaged in Sivasagar district, construction of community halls, including Namghars and public halls, in flood-affected villages in phases, and supply of beds, mattresses, and other essentials for around 10,000 flood-affected people in the Sivasagar constituency.
Following the discussions, ONGC officials reportedly assured Gogoi that the corporation would take steps to implement all five demands.
After the meeting, Gogoi spoke to journalists outside the main entrance of the ONGC Assam Asset residential area. When journalists raised concerns that ONGC had made similar assurances in the past that were not implemented, Gogoi responded firmly.
He warned that if ONGC failed to honour the commitments made during Thursday’s meeting, ‘ONGC will have to leave Assam.’
Gogoi’s strong statement, issued in the presence of senior ONGC officials, comes amid growing public demand for greater corporate assistance to people affected by the devastating floods in Upper Assam.
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