Deluge begins, ASDMA sits on embankment repair

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, June 12: Even as a fresh wave of floods hits the State, a number of proposals for repairing embankments have been kept pending by the Assam State Disaster Magement Authority (ASDMA). There are allegations that the agency is not sanctioning the proposals on time, resulting in a huge backlog. The ASDMA clears the funds to repair embankments.

The State Water Resources department had sent 104 proposals relating to embankment repair to the ASDMA in 2012–13. The agency cleared only 73 of them. The following year, 85 proposals were sent, of which only 29 were sanctioned. Similarly, last year, only 54 of the 186 proposals were cleared.

The State Assembly had in the past witnessed arguments over the delay in sanctioning of repair works, but that has not changed the state of affairs.

A committee headed by the Chief Secretary is responsible for clearing the proposals. According to sources, meetings of this committee are also irregular. “By the time execution of the repair works begins, the rainy season is under way,” the sources said. This year, fourteen embankments have already been breached – 10 in lbari district, three in Sonitpur and one in Karimganj.