GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said the state needed a “national solution” to its flood problem rather than having floods declared a national problem.
The demand for a permanent solution to Assam’s flood and erosion crisis has been raised by the All Assam Students’ Union and others before successive central governments. Sarma, however, said scientific interventions were needed to address the perennial problem.
“Declaring floods a national problem is not going to work. We need a national solution,” he said, adding, “We need concrete schemes on how Assam can protect itself if water comes downhill from Nagaland,” Sarma said.
“If IITs, IIMs, Dibrugarh University and Gauhati University can tell us what interventions are required to solve this problem, we can approach Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking funds for the implementation of the schemes,” he said.
Sarma said Assam currently lacked a scientific mechanism to deal with the problem and had long relied on embankments and geo-bags for flood management.
“Declaring floods a national problem will not suffice; we will also need a way to find a solution,” he reiterated.
Sarma visited flood-affected areas of Mangaldoi in Darrang district on Saturday to assess the damage. At a relief camp, he inspected the food being prepared for affected people and instructed officials to ensure that it met hygiene and nutritional standards.
More than 77,000 people are still staying in relief camps in affected districts as the government continues to monitor the situation. Rehabilitation and restoration work is also being stepped up.
The floods have claimed 98 lives so far. Sivasagar, Charaideo and Jorhat are among the worst-hit districts, with most deaths reported from Sivasagar and Charaideo, which share a border with Nagaland.