Assam Floods: AASU stages protest in Lakhimpur and Nagaon

CORRESPONDENTS

LAKHIMPUR: As per instruction issued from the central committee, the Lakhimpur district unit of All Assam Students' Union (AASU) also took to the streets to demand the Union Government to declare Assam's flood and erosion as national problem. In this connection, Lakhimpur district AASU staged sit-in (Bikhyobh) at NH-15 near Hanuman Mandir of North Lakhimpur town on Thursday. The organization further demanded to rehabilitate the landless flood victims and provide enough flood relief for the affected people and livestock.

Regarding the demand, Lakhimpur district AASU president Simanta Neog and general secretary Swaraj Sankar Gogoi said, "No initiative on the part of the Union Government to declare Assam's flood and erosion as national problem despite massive devastation every year is a matter of serious concern. The burning problem has broken the very backbone of the economic infrastructure of the State. Under such circumstances, the Union Government has done nothing to resolve the problem of State."

Lakhimpur district AASU president and the general secretary further said, "Our organization has consecutively demanded the governments to mitigate the flood and erosion problem by conducting a scientific study over the major rivers of the district. But the successive and incumbent governments have showed no good will for the same till date. It has been observed that only crores of government funds have been misappropriated without any effective plans during the flood season every year."

According to the Lakhimpur district AASU, Ranganadi Hydro Electric Plant, located at Yazali in Arunachal Pradesh and Pare Hidro Electric Project, located at Doimukh in the same State, which are operated by NEEPCO, and Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric Project being constructed by NHPC Limited at Gerukamukh are the main factors responsible for ravaging flash floods in Lakhimpur district. "It has also been observed that the Lakhimpur Division of Water Resource Department has been misappropriating crores of funds in the name of mitigating flood and erosion problem in the district," Lakhimpur district AASU president and the general secretary alleged.

NAGAON: The Nagaon district unit of the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) on Thursday staged a sit-in in front of the office of Deputy Commissioner, Nagaon and demanded the Union Government to declare the flood and erosion in Assam as a national problem.

Besides, the students' organization also urged the BJP-led alliance government in the State to ensure sufficient supplies of food materials, drinking water, sanitary facilities, medicine, mosquito nets in almost all flood relief camps set up in the district. Over hundred of agitators led by the president and in-charge secretary of the district unit of the student organization, respectively Gauri Shankar Saikia, Kankanjyoti Boruah and central executive Rantu Sarma, participated in the stir and shouted various slogans. During the stir, the protesters also demanded immediate assistance of government as well as rehabilitation of the flood-hit families under Kampur, Raha, Nagaon other flood ravaged revenue circles of the district.

Meanwhile, State Agriculture Minister Atul Bora on Thursday participated in a community seeds sowing programme for community nursery in around 6 hectares land under 'Brahmaputra Krishak Utpadok Sangstha' at Laokhuwa. The minister himself sat on a tractor and ploughed over 6 hectares of land. The programme was held with a view to supply paddy saplings from the community nursery to the flood-hit farmers of the district soon after the flood. The minister on Wednesday made an announcement that the department concerned planned to set up community nursery for paddy saplings in 90 hectares in the district to distribute saplings among the flood-hit farmers of the district and as part of it, the department on Thursday initiated the step to produce saplings in around 6 hectares of land at Laokhuwa community nursery.

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