DOOMDOOMA, April 19 - Twelve flood-affected families of Kaintiyan village under Gakhirbheti Gaon Panchayat in Kordoiguri area of Tinsukia district have been facing hardship due to the lockdown in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
These families have been taking shelter at Kaintiyan LP School since 1992, when floods and erosion by the Brahmaputra and its channel Ananta Nallah washed away everything belonging to 102 families.
They appealed to the government many times for rehabilitation but in vain. Finding no alternative, 90 families shifted to other places in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The remaining 12 landless families are still in the school campus, and have been urging the government to grant them a plot of land each, but have so far failed to get any response.
The families of Dipen Gogoi, Hiren Gogoi, Jatin Kakoti, Ratul Kakoti, Prafulla Kakoti, Anil Kakoti, Anima Gogoi, Nagen Kakoti, Deben Khanikar, Assam Proja, Amit Gogoi and Nabin Gogoi have been using the only pump in the school for water and also the school toilet.
They used to earn their daily bread by working in various places on daily wages. Thirteen children in these families are students, and are facing trouble in continuing their education. After the declaration of the lockdown, these people became jobless. Though various organisations have been providing some relief, that has not been sufficient.
