STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: In a worrisome development, the State Executive Committee (SEC) of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) is yet to grant approval for repair and restoration works necessitated by damage caused by the last bout of devastating floods in the state this year.
According to rules framed by the Central government, all states need to have an SEC headed by the respective Chief Secretaries to approve schemes under SDRF. The Centre provides 90 per cent of the total allocation of funds under SDRF, while the state governments provide the remaining 10 per cent. The fund is utilized for repairing damage to roads, embankments etc., caused by natural calamities. The SDRF allocation to Assam for 2022-23 is Rs 901 crore. According to sources, Assam's SEC held its most recent meeting on November 4. The meeting approved certain items of the agenda such as work plan and budget under the head of 'capacity building machinery and equipments' under SDRF for the financial year 2022-23. However, schemes under the Water Resources Department and the PWD could not be approved due to unspecified reasons.
The sources pointed out that meetings of the SEC are not held very regularly and the previous one this year was held as far back as March, a gap of over seven months.
The flood season starts from around April each year in Assam and extends till September-October. The ongoing year also witnessed floods in April.
The main cause of concern due to non-approval of repair and restoration works is that many embankments were breached during the last bout of floods. If these are not repaired before April next year, then the damage caused by floods is bound to be more severe next season, the sources said, pointing out that the working season is limited in the region because the onset on rains stops all civil works.
The sources said that it is the need of the hour for the SEC to re-assemble as soon as possible and accord expeditious approval to all repair and restoration works under the Water Resources Department in particular.
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