Guwahati: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who on Monday identified himself as a soldier of people in the parliament said that he stands with the people of Assam.After visiting a flood relief camp at Fulertal in Assam’s Cachar district Mr Gandhi in a social media post said, “I stand with the people of Assam, I am their soldier in Parliament, and I urge the central government to extend all possible help and support to the state expeditiously.”“Assam needs a comprehensive and compassionate vision-relief, rehabilitation and compensation in the short term, and a pan-Northeast water management authority to do everything necessary to control floods in the long term”, he said.He said, ”The extreme devastation caused by flooding in Assam is heartbreaking-with innocent children like 8-year old Avinash being taken away from us. My heartfelt condolences to all the bereaved families across the state.”It is significant that Avinash and his father fell into an uncovered drain from a scooter in Guwahati city and though his father survived, the child’s body was recovered from a drain four km downstream after three days on Sunday.Mr Gandhi said that the Assam Congress leaders apprised him of the situation on the ground where over 24 lakh people have been affected, 53,000 and above people displaced and more than 60 people lost their lives.He said, “These numbers reflect the gross and grave mismanagement by BJP’s double engine government which came to power with the promise of a flood-free Assam.”The Congress leader also visited a camp of internally displaced people who had taken shelter at Thalain in Cachar district following the violence in neighbouring Manipur and interacted with them.Earlier the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha was received at the Kumbhirgram airport here by Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhupen Borah and other senior state and district party leaders.Mr Borah submitted a memorandum to Mr Gandhi urging him to take up the issue of the devastating flood with the Centre as a special case to get adequate relief and compensation for the severe losses incurred due to the deluge. “We will be grateful to you for carrying our voice of agony to the Centre”, he said.“Assam should get a package to tackle the grim situation as the state government has failed to get adequate funds from the Centre, a double failure of the double engine government”, said Mr Borah.The state Congress president alleged that during the last five years, the double-engine BJP government has not given any importance to repair and reconstruction of embankments.“In these five years, the BJP government in Assam has requested the BJP government at the Centre for Rs 10,785 crore for flood-related relief and reconstruction but received a mere Rs 250 crore”, he said.Mr Borah also stated that the flood problem in the state has aggravated due to large scale deforestation in the hills which has also resulted in large-scale siltation into the rivers. The siltation has reduced the depth of the river-bed thereby reducing the water-holding capacity of rivers in the state, he said.Stressing the necessity of a long-term plan—a pan-northeast water management authority Mr Borah said, “During the monsoon season and with climate change, we are getting extreme rainfall with the water discharge being beyond the carrying capacity of the rivers.”“The short-term solution is strengthening the current flood management infrastructure like embankments, and providing immediate relief and rehabilitation to those affected is equally important,” he said.
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