News Desk: Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the Union Minister of Jal Shakti on Wednesday held a detailed discussion with Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. Through a video conference, the Union Minister took stock of the flood situation of Assam. The Chief Minister apprised G.S. Shekhawat about the scale of devastation caused by the current wave of flood along with erosion in the state and various steps taken by the state government to manage the situation.
Water Resource Minister Keshab Mahanta, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Sanjay Lohia, CEO of ASDMA M.S. Manivannan along with other officials were present during the video conference.
To effectively manage the relief and rehabilitation works, the Union Jal Shakti Minister assured that an amount of Rs. 346 Crore would be released immediately from his ministry to Assam Government as the first installment under Flood Management Programme (FMP). He also urged the Chief Minister to send more proposals for sanctioning under the Disaster Risk Management Fund which would enable the State Government to receive more funds from Central Government for flood and erosion.
Sarbananda Sonowal also appealed to the Union Minister to allocate funds to the state government to strengthen 5000 Km of embankments built since 1951 in the state, which would now be turned into road cum embankments. The Union Jal Shakti Minister urged the Chief Minister to send a letter stating the same.
According to the reports of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), 115 people have lost their lives in floods and landslides this year. 89 were killed in flood-related incidents and 26 died due to landslides.
Image Source: Internet
