Assam Floods: Flood spells doom for car owners in Silchar

A CORRESPONDENT

SILCHAR: Assam University professor and a noted writer Himadri Sekhar Das was awe-struck as he was informed that he had to cough up Rs 3.5 lakh for repairing his car which was submerged for 23 days during the recent Silchar deluge. The cost of repairing was nothing less than the devastating flood as he said, "I am confused whether it will be right to repair my car by spending so much money or should I sell the car to kabadiwala."

Das, however, was not the only person left in such a state of confusion as thousands of Silchar car owners face same post-flood challenge with their cars. Local dealer of Maruti cars had reportedly received at least two thousand cars damaged by flood water. In maximum number of cases, engines were irreparably damaged as the vehicles were submerged for not less than one week. At least Rs 100 crores would need to be spent to repair the cars but chances of complete revival could not be guaranteed. The local Maruti dealer too incurred huge loss as their 75 new ready to delivery cars got affected by flood water. A source said, the amount of loss would be nearly Rs 4.5 crore. Similarly, Toyota workshop was overloaded with almost 100 vehicles lined up for repairing.

Car owners are not sure how much will they get from the insurance. As Himadri Sekhar Das said, "A total of Rs 3.5 lakhs was needed to repair my car. I don't know how much money I will get from insurance company. It depends on surveyors and other parameters."

Deputy Commissioner Keerthi Jalli had already sought the intervention of the State government as she wrote to the Finance Commissioner and Secretary. Jalli said, a large number of insurance claims were being put up especially to four major companies like The New India Assurances Co Ltd. United India Insurance, National Insurance and Oriental Insurance. To facilitate the claims process Jalli wanted to have a discussion with the insurance companies. She had a discussion with the automobile sectors too.

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