Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said a sum of around ₹1,000 crore is required for the rehabilitation of the flood affected people.
He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured support to help rebuild lives of those affected once the survey, currently underway in four districts, to assess damage is completed. The survey will continue till August 30.
“We expect around ₹1,000 crore for rehabilitation. The PM has asked to ensure no false claims for relief and rehabilitation are filed,” said Sarma.
“Till date around 8,000 families have been surveyed and damage of ₹150 crore has been recorded. We will get help from the Centre for rehabilitation, the PM has assured this,” he added.
Sarma said that the survey is expected to identify around 60,000 affected families by August 30. The details will be double checked by September 15, followed by another round of checks in order to ensure no one is left out, he added.
On August 9, culture affairs minister Bimal Borah said compensation structure for affected families could range from ₹1.78 lakhs per family to over ₹3.5 lakhs.
“Those whose houses are completely damaged would get ₹1.20 lakhs, severely damaged ones where appliances and items inside the house are also ruined will also get a similar amount,” he had said.
{{/usCountry}}“Those whose houses are completely damaged would get ₹1.20 lakhs, severely damaged ones where appliances and items inside the house are also ruined will also get a similar amount,” he had said.
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Borah informed that the compensation for each cattle will be around ₹37,500, for damaged handlooms they will get ₹5,000 each, those who have lost goats, sheep or pigs will get ₹4,000 for each animal (up to a maximum of 30 animals per household).
“Compensation will also be paid for loss of poultry and damage to crops. If everything is taken into account each affected family could get a minimum compensation of ₹1.78 lakhs and a maximum sum of somewhere above ₹3.5 lakhs each,” he said.
The CM said that two rounds of flooding this season since April have affected 25 districts, 90 revenue circles, 2715 villages, over 1.2 million people and claimed 101 lives. Four districts, Sibsagar, Charaideo, Golaghat and Jorhat, are still reeling from the second wave of floods that started on July 19.
“The situation is slowly returning to normal in Charaideo, Golaghat and Jorhat districts. But three revenue circles in Sibsagar are still affected. Sixty-three villages are still inundated and there are 15 relief camps in the district which are housing 4188 displaced people,” he said.
Sarma informed that 793 affected schools have been given ₹2 lakhs each for repairs and nearly 90% of such schools have reopened and the rest are expected to become operational by August 15.
Students are provided with new books, two sets of uniforms and a sum ranging from ₹1,000 to ₹3000 each. A sum of ₹2 lakh to ₹2.5 lakh each have been given to 494 damaged Anganwadi centres.
The CM said that most roads have been cleared of sludge and debris and repairs will soon start. Around 65,000 families were given ₹15,000 each as immediate monetary relief.
Sarma informed another 31,000 other affected families have also been identified and will be receiving monetary relief soon. Around 400,000 affected beneficiary families under the flagship poverty alleviation scheme, Orunodoi were given ₹2,500 each.
He said that around ₹142 crore was received for flood relief in the CM’s relief fund, while around 1,700 insurance claims have been made and only 319 applications from around 228,000 loan borrowers have been received by banks for moratorium on existing loans till date.
Sarma said that 72 social media influencers from Assam and outside have also raised funds for flood relief.
“We are tracking them and checking if they actually spent the amounts collected on flood relief. Those who have done sincere work will be felicitated by the government.” he said.