Inform us before release of water: Dispur to Central Water Commission

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The State government has decided to request the CWC (Central Water Commission) to monitor China and Bhutan releasing water towards Assam and keep inform the State so as to let it prepare itself to tackle flash floods.

Both China and Bhutan release water during the monsoon, leading to flash floods that are notorious for causing large-scale damage of infrastructure in Assam. Since water from the Himalayan regions comes all of a sudden the people and the governments in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh get little time to prepare themselves to face the devastation.

The decision to take up the issue with the CWC was taken at a review meeting on State-level flood preparedness with heads of line departments held on Tuesday with State Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna in the chair. During the meeting, the Chief Secretary asked all departments to remain alert and fully prepared to deal with any eventuality that may arise due to floods and COVID-19 pandemic. The Chief Secretary also took stock of the current status of vulnerable areas and measures taken by the respective departments to mitigate it.

Meanwhile, to thwart the likely double whammy – floods coupled with COVID-19 – the ASDMA (Assam State Disaster Management Authority) is preparing an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) and hand it over to the deputy commissioners and sub-divisional officers (civil) for their flood-fighting operations in the State. 

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