GUWAHATI : The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) on Wednesday submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to declare the state’s recurring flood and river erosion crisis a ‘national problem’.
A delegation led by Pranjit Das, Chairman of the APCC Relief & Rehabilitation Department, met Assam Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya and submitted the memorandum in this regard.
The flood situation in Assam improved on Wednesday as the number of affected people dipped to 87,000 in four districts, but the toll climbed to 103 as two more deaths were reported.
In the memorandum, the Congress said around 40 per cent of Assam’s total land area, or 31.05 lakh hectares, is flood-prone, much higher than the national average of 10.2 per cent.
It cited heavy siltation in the Brahmaputra and Barak basins, torrential monsoon rains, shallow riverbeds, embankment breaches and climate change impacts as key factors aggravating the situation.
The crisis has destroyed the livelihoods of farmers, daily wage labourers and tea garden workers, and displaced countless families, it added.
The APCC said the scale of the problem is beyond the capacity of the state government alone and demanded that the Centre recognise it as a “national problem” to ensure a permanent and scientific solution.
The party urged the Centre to set up a high-level task force comprising central and state officials, scientists, technical experts and representatives of affected people to find a solution to the perennial problem.
It also sought adequate central funds for a comprehensive master plan covering river course regulation, embankment strengthening, scientific dredging, real-time flood forecasting, early warning systems and planned rehabilitation of displaced families.
The memorandum further stressed the need for effective coordination among central ministries for integrated management of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries.
“Temporary relief alone cannot provide a lasting solution to this long-standing crisis,” it added. (Source: PTI)
