People's Democracy

ASSAM FLOODS

 CPI(M) Asks PM To Ensure Speedy Relief

THE CPI(M) Assam state committee has requested the prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh to ensure that all possible assistance is rendered for undertaking relief and rehabilitation work in the flood ravaged state. Stressing there was an impending danger of famine like situation in the state, the CPI(M) urged him to initiate immediately both short term and long term measures for seeking a permanent solution to the problems of perennial floods in Assam.

A three member delegation of CPI(M) leaders comprising Party state secretary, Heman Das, former CPI(M) MP, Uddhab Barman, and state committee member, Isfaqur Rahman, met the prime minister at Guwahati on July 20 and presented a memorandum on the devastating flood situation in the state. Dr Singh accompanied by two other central ministers from Assam, was visiting the state on a daylong stock-taking mission on the devastation caused by floods.

The Assam state committee of the CPI(M) while telling the prime minister that the relief being provided so far to the people is woefully inadequate, it put forward 10 specific demands to the prime minister in their memorandum (see box).

The memorandum also detailed the grim situation in the state following the ravage of the floods. More than 1crore people of the state are badly affected by floods and erosions while the official bulletin stated that around 90 lakh people in 26 districts of the state were affected. The death toll has been put at 68 while the actual number will be much higher. In the capital city of Guwahati alone, landslides killed more than 15 people in the early hours of July 15. Lakhs of people have been rendered homeless and around 21 lakh hectares of land, including 6 lakh hectares of cropland, has been submerged. Property worth crores of rupees has been damaged. The road and rail network has also been extensively damaged. The current wave of floods and erosions have destroyed agriculture, the backbone of Assam’s economy.

The memorandum stated that rescue operations are being hamstrung by inaccessibility to the affected areas and non-availability of mechanised boasts. On the other hand, relief camps are packed beyond capacity and are unable to accommodate lakhs of people who were rendered homeless. Such people continue to wage a grim battle against hunger and water borne diseases in the relief camps, makeshift shelters and marooned areas. Thousands and thousands of people are still languishing without food, medicines, safe drinking water, baby foods, fodder for livestock etc. The threat of epidemic was also looming large over the affected areas. The biggest worry now is the post-flood situation when there is every possibility of diarrhea and other water-borne diseases breaking out on a large scale. Prices of essential commodities are also soaring high due to the artificial shortage created by unscrupulous traders. (INN)