Assam Floods: Agriculture Department Needs Rs 35 Crore

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The current wave of floods has dealt a blow to Agriculture activities. And to meet the exigencies, the State Agriculture department needs Rs 35 crore. This assessment has been made by the department itself. Now the department is preparing its proposals for restoration of flood damage. As asked by State Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the department is going to submit its proposals before the July 26 Assembly Session so that the proposals can be passed as supplementary demands.

Meanwhile, talking to The Sentinel, State Agriculture Minister Atul Bora said: “Agriculture has suffered a serious setback due to the floods. However, the time for sowing paddy saplings is still to go. Much of the paddy saplings that have already been sown have gone waste. What we can do now is sowing paddy saplings on highlands and supply them to the affected farmers, along with pesticides. We are here to give the affected farmers the much needed succour.” The loss suffered by the department is heavy. So far, 5.94 lakh families of farmers have been badly affected by the floods, inundating 1.62 lakh hectares of arable land.

Also Read: Assam Floods: Centre releases Rs 251 crore as grant-in-aid for Flood Relief Fund