Sarbananda Sonowal takes stock of flood situation in Lakhimpur & Dhemaji

A CORRESPONDENT

LAKHIMPUR: Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who arrived in Lakhimpur on Tuesday in order to take stock of the flood situation of north Assam, visited the erosion-hit Hekerajan area under Kadam Revenue Circle of the district on Wednesday.

Notably, in that area, the enormous proportion of erosion caused by River Subansiri eroded away an erosion protection measure that had been implemented by North Lakhimpur Water Resources Division with the investment of Rs. 7.50 crore granted by NABARD last year. In this regard, a detailed report was published in The Sentinel in its July 24 issue in 2019. Like the previous years, the erosion of the river has wreaked havoc in the area and ravaged the residential and crop lands. As a result of it, several families living in the area have turned homeless at present due to the devastation caused by the calamity.

The Chief Minister then went to Dhakuakhana and inspected the massive erosion caused by River Charikoriya, which is regarded as the lifeline of the subdivision. River Charikoriya, which generally flows in a peaceful and tranquil manner, has caused tremendous threat to the existence of Dhakuakhana College with its massive erosion. The river, on July 22, eroded away the residences of two employees of the college along with several valuable trees causing threat to one bigha of land owned by the college. The Chief Minister arrived at the spot and took stock of the situation. He was accompanied by Panchayat and Rural Development Minister-cum-Dhakuakhana MLA Naba Kumar Doley, Water Resources Minister Keshab Mahanta, Lakhimpur MP Pradan Baruah and Dhemaji MLA Dr. Ranoj Kumar Pegu.

Interacting with the media persons, the Chief Minister said that all necessary steps would be taken in a bid to mitigate the flood and erosion problem of the river very soon. In this regard, he reiterated that the North East Water Management Authority, constituted by the Union Government, would study the flood and erosion as well as landslide problem of the State and prepare detailed project report to bring the burning problem under control.

The Chief Minister had held a meeting with Lakhimpur Deputy Commissioner and other high-level officers of the district administration on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, he visited Dhemaji too to take stock of the flood situation of the district and took part in relief distribution programmes. Then he went to his native constituency Majuli.

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