Excelsior Correspondent
GUWAHATI, Aug 1: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced a relief package of Rs.2,000 crore for rehabilitation, reconstruction and flood mitigation measures in the flood-affected States of Northeast. The announcement came at the end of a series of high-level meetings, in which he reviewed the flood situation and relief measures in different North-Eastern States.
Through the course of the day, Prime Minister Modi held separate detailed review meetings on situation in the States of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland in the presence of the respective Chief Ministers, Sarbananda Sonowal, Pema Khandu, N. Biren Singh and T.R. Zeliang.
Dr Jitendra Singh, Union DoNER Minister, was present in all these meetings.
A memorandum was presented on behalf of the Chief Minister of Mizoram, T.Zeliang who could not make it to the meeting in person.
Out of Rs.2,000 crore package, Rs.1200 crore has been earmarked for infrastructure alone, whereas Rs.400 crore will be provided for improving the water holding capacity of river Brahmaputra.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also announced the constituting of a high-level committee with representatives from concerned Ministries of Government of India and States for proper management of the region’s vast water resources. An ex-gratia of Rs.2 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs.50,000/- to each of the seriously injured has already been sanctioned, it was informed.
Dr Jitendra Singh, who was present in all these meetings, disclosed that the Union Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER) will undertake the work to rebuild the damaged structures including roads, bridges, etc. For this purpose, an amount of Rs.200 crore has been allocated from the Ministry of DoNER. In addition, the Ministry of DoNER will also spare Rs.100 crore to convene a conclave and research by experts for suggesting long-term solutions to control and mitigate the effect of recurring floods in North-Eastern States.
Dr Jitendra Singh placed on record the appreciation of the people of Northeast and all the State Governments for the deep concern shown by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the manner he had personally monitored the flood situation on day-to-day basis. He said, the Prime Minister deliberately avoided undertaking a visit to the flood-affected States in the early days, so that the administrative machinery engaged in rescue and relief operations should not get distracted on account of his visit, but the moment the things were relatively settled, he chose to visit the North-Eastern region to boost the morale of administration and reassure the people of the region that the Government of India always stands by them.
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