: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday announced that a Group of Ministers (GoM) would be constituted soon to study the causes of havoc wreaked by the current wave of flood in Goalpara and Kamrup districts and to suggest suitable and effective measures for mitigating flood risk.
Mr Gogoi, in a statement here, stated that the GoM would make a thorough study of the flood situation in this belt after consultations with experts from disaster management, water resources, hydrology and other fields and submit its final report to him for necessary steps. The Chief Minister decided to constitute the GoM following his visit to Goalpara district on Sunday to assess the prevailing situation and to take stock of the damage.
The GoM would also formulate suitable strategies to put in place measures that will reduce medium and long-term disaster risk and a programme of emergency reconstruction to restore access to essential services in the short term, complemented by longer-term measures to improve flood modelling capabilities, added the Chief Minister in his statement.
Flash floods and landslides in four districts of Goalpara, Kamrup, Kamrup (Metropolitan) and Dhubri left 39 dead. Flash floods in Goalpara and Kamrup district, reported to be caused by a cloud burst over Garo Hills in Meghalaya, left a trail of devastation.
Mr Gogoi has refuted the statement of Union Minister of State (Independent) for Sports, Youth Affairs and Skill Development Sarbananda Sonowal that the State Government had failed to utilise the Central funds.
An official release stated that the State Government has conveyed to the Union Minister of State (Independent), through a letter on Monday, that of the total Rs 183.38 crore Central funds available under the State Disaster Response Fund(SDRF), Rs 162.65 crore had been already sanctioned for restoration of damages and flood relief operations and that there would be no unspent balance available in the SDRF after meeting the huge quantum of liabilities on account of relief and rescue operations during the recent devastating flood.
The State Government has also brought it to the notice of the Union Minister that no fund has been received from the Central Government for SDRF for 2014-15 till date.
