Year after year, the north eastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland have had to bear the brunt of massive flooding in the region. Not only do these recurring floods cause major damage to livestock but are also the reason for immense loss of human life. The floods cause erosion and landslides which further add to the existing problem.
These yearly floods are not a recent development and have been occurring for a long time now. Bramhaputra and its tributaries flood their banks every year causing tremendous wreckage of life and property. But up until now, these floods had faded into the background. The entire country and even the government had grown apathetic to the inevitable problem of flooding to the extent that during most years, these floods received absolutely no national media coverage. For the past few years, there have been various protests against such a treatment of the problem which was touted as a problem not only for the north – east but for the entire country. And finally it seems, the protests have been heard.
Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a whopping package of Rs 2,000 crore towards flood – relief for the northeast India. Along with this announcement came a few more assurances from NaMo that will prove to be a huge repose to the people of the northeast who are annually affected by the floods.
- A separate amount of Rs 100 Crore has been set aside for the study and enquiry of the problem of flooding in the north-eastern region. For this purpose, a high – level committee will be constituted who will analyse the matter and try to come up with viable solutions.
- The Prime Minister also designated an amount of Rs 250 Crore specially for flood – relief in Assam. Apart from this, out of the Rs 2000 crore from the package, Rs 1200 crore will go towards rebuilding the infrastructure in Assam that were damaged due to the floods
- NaMo has additionally ordered a proper study of the flood in the region and thus, a separate committee will research on the Brahmaputra river and it’s different tributaries. The study is not just supposed to be limited to Assam but will also be multi – nation and multi – state, spanning countries like Bhutan, China and Bangladesh.
While all of these initiatives are like a breath of fresh air from what the status quo was like, it still cannot be denied that a lot still remains to be done in terms of providing necessary relief to these flood – prone areas, especially Assam. The state government of Assam claims that damages approximating to Rs 3888 crores have occurred due to the floods and hence, the step taken by the Prime Minister is just a start and there is a long way to go.
But having said that, it is indeed commendable that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has brought the recurring problem of the Assam floods into the foreground and offered at least some relief to the people of the region. For years these north-eastern states have suffered from ignorance in spite of their lives being destroyed by the floods, so, this relief package announced by NaMo is nothing less than a beacon of hope. And as they say, it’s always better late than never.
