Assam may need over Rs 1,000 crore for flood damage repairs and rehabilitation: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday informed that it would take more than Rs 1,000 crore to rehabilitate property and provide relief to the people hit by the recent unprecedented floods in Assam. As losses become more apparent, the state government will be undertaking another damage top-up as part of the damage assessment process.
New Evidence of Flood Damage
Sarma said first time the damage will be verified then another assessment will be conducted on 10% of the cases by officials from other districts.
First verification exercise will need to be finished by September 15th. The authorities, too, will offer an opportunity to appeal in case any individual feels genuine claims have been ignored during the evaluation, the CM said. Authorities have so far carried out some 8,000 damage assessments and estimated damages to be at close to Rs 200 crore. This number should be rising as the assessment continues.
Priority – Worst Avalanche Areas and New Areas.
The government’s efforts had minimised the effect of the floods in some enclaves historically prone to floods, such as Nalbari, Biswanath and Jorhat, Baksa, the Bodoland, Sarma said. But, Sivasagar and Charaideo have become new places of concern and the government has decided to give more attention to flooding protection and rehabilitation in those areas.
Model Housing and Livelihood Support Planned
The Assam government is discussing feasibility of model housing projects as part of a long-term rehabilitation programme in the case of severely affected areas.
The Government is also in talks with the National Dairy Development Board on steps to assist the affected families to resume their livelihoods. These may involve positioning of cattle, and introduction of milk-processing facilities. The government is also putting measures in place to enhance flood protection measures on the Dikhow river and to clear out river channels.
Rs 142 Crore Deposited in Relief Fund
Since the floods, Rs 142 crore has been banked in the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. About 900 people had booked appointments to donate to the fund to alleviate the situation, according to Sarma. Poverty alleviation is also being supported by tracking insurance policies of flood hit areas. The number of insurance claims received in Jorhat, Charaideo, Golaghat and Sivasagar are 703 and from these, 176 claims have got settled.
Authorities have encouraged the residents who may be affected by this to file their claims immediately.
Low Response to Loan Moratorium
The government has also observed that low response from borrowers has been seen in the scheme of providing loan moratorium for loans affected by flood. In all, the number of eligible borrowers is 199,988, and till now only 319 applications have been received. All 319 applications submitted so far have been accepted with Aug. 30 as the deadline for eligible borrows to take part.