Narendra Modi to visit Assam tomorrow, will discuss permanent solution to flooding issue

Guwahati: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay a one-day visit to Assam on Tuesday to discuss a permanent solution to the flood problem in the state every year. The prime minister will leave from Delhi for the state at 7.30 am to assess the damage caused by the deluge.

Tomorrow, PM @narendramodi will be in Assam, where he will review the situation arising due to floods and the relief work.

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 31, 2017

During his visit, PM will meet CMs & top officials of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland to review the flood situation.

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 31, 2017

“The prime minister’s visit is mainly to find a permanent solution to the flood problem that Assam is facing,” state Finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said at a press conference in Guwahati. Narendra Modi will hold two series of discussions here during the day and will leave for Delhi in the evening, he added.

He will chair a series of high level meetings to review the flood situation, and the relief operations in the North Eastern States.

— ANI (@ANI) July 31, 2017

[caption id=“attachment_2916206” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The floods resulted in people using makeshift boats to commute in Assam. PTI[/caption] The first meeting will be with the council of ministers and state officials. After that, the prime minister will address a meeting of NDA legislatures from BJP, BPF and AGP, Sarma said. Asked about the state’s demand, Sarma said Assam has enough funds. “We still have Rs 324 crore of unspent money. Last year the Centre had announced Rs 400 crore (for Assam), but did not send it because we had money,” he added. Sarma, however, said the state government will submit a memorandum with some demands. Earlier on Monday, Congress leader and former chief minister Tarun Gogoi said Modi is paying a “token visit to the state only after facing severe criticism from all quarters as he visited Gujarat, but neglected Assam.” Modi is slated to conduct an aerial survey of the affected areas. Reports also state that he is likely to give a public speech at around 2 pm on Tuesday. The Centre has already announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each under the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for the kin of people killed and Rs 50,000 to seriously injured persons in the recent flood in Assam. The prime minister requested Assam government to furnish details of the requirement of funds along with list incorporating the names of the dead in flood, their next of kin and seriously injured persons. A seven-member inter-ministerial central team had visited Assam on 25 July for four days to carry out an on-the-spot assessment of flood damage. The flood situation in the state has improved but one more person was killed in Morigaon district taking the toll in the natural calamity to 83, including eight in Guwahati. According to Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), about 5,000 people are still affected in Lakhimpur and Jorhat districts, and 366 people are taking shelter in four relief camps in the two districts. This year, two waves of floods in the state have affected around 25 lakh people from 29 districts prompting the administration to set up 1,098 distribution centres and relief camps, where about 1.32 lakh people took shelter. Though the current wave of floods has receded, six districts are still reeling under floods and over 2,000 people have taken shelter in the relief camps.