Flood preparedness

With the rainy season approaching, the possibility of floods ravaging Assam cannot be ruled out, but unfortunately, the State Government is yet to make necessary preparations for mitigating the sufferings of the people of the affected areas. Of course, it is not possible for the State Government to work for permanent solution of the problem of floods and erosion without Central Government aid, but at least efforts should have been made to mitigate the sufferings of the people. The failure of the State Government to release funds required for flood damage repairs seriously affected the progress of works and one fails to understand why funds are not released on time to ensure timely completion of the works. It is reported that in the last financial year, the State Government released funds for flood damage repairs only in the month of February and vital time was lost in the working season. The Government should have released funds for plugging the breaches of the embankments and repair of the roads and bridges immediately after floods to ensure that the work is completed before the onset of monsoon. Moreover, the Lok Sabha elections also affected preparations to deal with floods and the Chief Minister reviewed the preparedness of the State to deal with floods only in the middle of this month after the elections. This proved the lack of sincerity of the Government in dealing with the sufferings of the common people of the State.

Moreover, lack of coordination between concerned Government departments often comes to the fore, which is unfortunate and the Chief Minister himself should look into this aspect to ensure that all the concerned departments work in proper coordination. Shortage of boats often affect rescue and relief operations in the flood affected areas and to deal with the problem, the Government has decided to procure about a hundred boats to be put at the disposal of the Deputy Commissioners to be used during floods. This if, of course, a positive step but at the same time, the Government must ensure proper utilisation of the boats. The Government should also appoint drivers and mechanics to drive and maintain the boats, or else, the whole scheme will be wasted. The Government should also procure country boats, which may turn out to be helpful in rescue and relief operations in some parts of the State as the mechanised boats cannot ply in shallow waters. Moreover, the Deputy Commissioners of all the districts should be directed to train up local volunteers to assist the administration in rescue operations and to provide first aid in the flood prone areas of the state. ASSAM TRIBUNE