PIL seeks long-term measures to control floods

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, Sept 9: Admitting a PIL seeking effective relief and rehabilitation measures for people affected by the floods, a division bench of the Gauhati High Court comprising Chief Justice (Acting) K. Sreedhar Rao and Justice PK Saikia today issued notices to the Central and Assam governments.

The PIL was filed by advocate Rajeeb Kalita. It sought a direction to the governments to submit a report before the court regarding the current flood situation in the State and the extent of its impact.

"Crores of rupees are spent every year for short-term measures. Time has now come to plan, device and implement adequate long-term measures for mitigating the impact of the tural disaster," the PIL stated.

Senior advocate Bhaskar Dev Konwar argued on behalf of the petitioner that floods in Assam should be declared a tiol Calamity. He submitted before the court that political parties at the helm of affairs at the Centre and in the State have been indifferent and that is why proper relief has not reached the affected people.

Earlier, addressing a press conference this noon, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said there was improvement in the overall flood situation in the State, with number of affected people coming down to 10.72 lakh in 1072 villages and localities in 16 districts at present.

The cumulative death toll in this year's flood stood at 62.

Later in the evening, the Chief Minister's Office informed that Union Home Minister Rajth Singh called up the CM and communicated to him that the Centre has released Rs 197 crore as an immediate assistance to the State.