Amidst pandemic, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh battle fury of floods

GUWAHATI: Amidst COVID-19 pandemic, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh are battling a fury of floods. In Assam during the second wave of flood, around four people have died and nine districts are affected.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal took stock of the prevailing flood situation in the state as he talked to the Deputy Commissioners of Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Majuli, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Barpeta, Chirang, Baksa over video conference and asked them to reach out to the affected people on a war footing.

Chief Minister asked the DCs to provide essential relief materials to the affected people and to take care of the quality of the relief materials. He also asked the DCs to adhere to the safety protocols of the Covid 19 pandemic while negotiating with the relief and rescue operations in the ongoing spate of flood in the state. He also made it categorically clear to make available adequate medical facilities in the relief camps.

Sonowal also took stock of a damaged bridge leading to Baghjan from the DC, Tinsukia. He also asked the Deputy Commissioner to lay one bailey bridge in and out of Baghjan, ensuring unhindered movement of vehicles engaged in emergency services. He also took stock of the surging water in Lakhimpur, Barpeta, Chirang and Baksa districts, and asked the DCs to keep a constant vigil over the water level in their respective districts especially in the wake of reported release of water from Bhutan.

Landside triggered by incessant rain in the last couple of days has resulted in the death of a person in Arunachal Pradesh. A lady was drowned in Naharlagun. Reportedly the lady was returning back from her shop and got drowned while crossing the river. Her body was recovered from Nirjuli.

Sonowal along with Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sharma took stock of the prevailing Covid 19 situation in the state, particularly the abrupt spike in positive cases, especially in Guwahati.

While apprising the Chief Minister of the sequel of measures taken so far, including containment zones and imposition of lockdown in 11 wards in Guwahati, Deputy Commissioner Kamrup Metro Biswajit Pegu gave a detailed account of all the safety norms put in place for the containment and control of corona virus positive cases.