GUWAHATI:
Days after incessant rain raged havoc in Assam’s Dima Hasao district, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the government is working to find a permanent solution so that heavy rainfall-induced landslides can be prevented in the future.
Sarma, who visited the district and conducted a review meeting with the officials, said that infrastructure developed in the last five years in Dima Hasao has been destroyed in flash floods and landslides, and the restoration will take time.
“It’s a big challenge for us to restore road and rail connectivity. The roads are badly affected. The reconstruction of roads will be difficult in many places. Irrigation and water supply infrastructure, power facilities and bridges too have been damaged,” Sarma said.
Stating that the government will do everything in its part to help the district tide over the crisis, Sarma informed that the governments at the Centre and the state will help North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) with adequate funds.
He also informed that a central team will visit Dima Hasao on May 27 to assess the extent of loss caused by rain-induced landslides in the district.
Earlier in the day, Sarma visited Haflong and inspected landslide areas including a road in Sarkari Bagan area which got badly damaged by the incessant rain and consequent landslide.
The chief minister has also asked the Public Work Department (PWD) to take appropriate steps for the reconstruction of the road at a fast pace and look for an alternative alignment to save the stretch of the road from future damages due to landslides.
Sarma also visited temporary relief camps in Lower Haflong High school and LP school and interacted with the inmates who took shelter there.
The chief minister reviewed medical and other facilities and asked the deputy commissioner to look after the needs of the inmates and help them to repair their houses. There are 149 inmates in both camps.
During the visit, the chief minister also met family members of the three people who were killed in the landslide triggered by heavy rain at Hokai Pungchi Jeme village.
Interacting with them, he said that the ex-gratia payment from the government has already been released to the next of kin of the deceased.
As a part of his visit, the chief minister also took a review of the preliminary destruction caused by landslides at Haflong and other parts of the district. He stressed on immediate resumption of full-scale transportation in the district and laid emphasis on the restoration of roads damaged by landslides.
North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) CEM Debolal Gorlosa, MLA Nandita Gorlosa, NCHAC chairperson Ranu Langthasa, Executive Members and MACs of NCHAC, chief secretary Jishnu Baruah, principal secretary Samir Kumar Sinha, principal secretary NCHAC TT Daulagupu, DC, SP and heads of the departments in Dima Hasao were present in the review meeting.