Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday reached the flood hit Goalpara district to take take stock of the flood situation. In a unique measure, the Chief Minister directed the district administration to ensure that social distancing is adhered to amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
Addressing mediapersons, Sonowal said that in this extraordinary situation in which the state has been affected by both floods as well as the deadly Covid-19 pandemic, everyone should work as a "team."
In the absence of any antidote, social distancing is the only means through human lives can be saved, Sonowal said, further making an appeal to the media to generate awareness among the masses so that this "social vaccine" is adhered to at all costs.
Sonowal announced that the State Government would deal with the prevailing flood situation in pursuance of a new relief manual that is expected to further boost the Government's ability to tackle the flood challenge in an effective manner.
The Chief Minister during his day-long tour also visited the temporary relief camps set up at the Agia Balijana Girls' High School and Dwarka Primary School and interacted with camp inmates.
Later, he visited the integrated child development project office and took stock of the facilities and also had a chat with the ASHA workers. He also took stock of the Agia-Lakhipur state highway-12, a portion of which was washed away by floods, and called upon the officials to restore communication at the earliest.
Sonowal also visited a quarantine centre set up at the Ayurvedic Hospital set up in Dudhnoi and later handed over cheques amounting to Rs 4 lakh each to the next of kin of the 4 people who have so far lost lives due to floods.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Chief Minister was also accompanied by the minister-in-charge of the district Phani Bhusan Choudhury, MLAs Dipak Rabja, AK Rashid Alam, Rashid Mandal Sahabuddin Ahmed, DC Varnali Dela and SP Sushanta Biswa Sarma.
Fury of floods in Assam:
The flood situation in Assam has turned critical as 3,81,320 people across the 7 Assam districts of Nalbari, Goalpara, Nagaon, Hojai, West Karbi Anglong, Dibrugarh, and Tinsukia have been affected as of Friday. Additionally, 21,807 people have been driven to take shelter across 190 relief camps. Two persons, both from Goalpara district, have been killed.
According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority's (ASDMA) daily report. Goalpara district is the worst affected as 1,96,427 people across 158 villages have been affected by floods. It is followed by Hojai, where 94,445 people across 90 villages have been affected.