Assam MLAs to visit flood affected areas soon

Guwahati, Sept 12 : An all party delegation of the Assam Legislative Assembly will visit the flood-ravaged areas of the State in the near future to take stock of the damage besides relief and rehabilitation measures.

State Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has requested the Speaker of the Assembly, Tanka Bahadur Rai, to constitute the delegation with immediate effect.

Gogoi asked State Assembly members to contribute a month's salary to the Chief Minister's Fund for helping the flood-affected people.

Gogoi also requested Members of Parliament (MPs) to contribute 10 lakh rupees each from their Local Area Development Fund to repair the damages caused by the floods.

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, who is also a Rajya Sabha Member from the State, has already assured the Chief Minister to release 70 lakh rupees from his Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) Fund.

Dr. Singh spoke to Gogoi over phone last night and assured that the Centre would provide all required for the rehabilitation of flood victims in Assam.

Gogoi is expected to meet the Prime Minister and the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Saturday to give an overall picture of the flood situation in his State.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has also announced that he would a month's salary for the flood ravaged people of the Assam.

The Centre has sanctioned the first installment of grant-in-aid to the tune of 7,898 crore rupees to the State Government towards Calamity Relief Fund (CRF) in the current year itself, official sources said.

Meanwhile, the flood situation in the State is improving slowly. Except for a few parts, road communication has been restored in most of the 19 affected districts.

People are vacating relief camps. So far, the worst-flood of the season has claimed 32 human lives besides livestock. Over fifty lakh hectares of standing crop has also been damaged.

ANI