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1.6 lakh people affected by floods in Dhemaji

By Ajit Patowary

DHEMAJI, Sept 11 � In all, 1,60, 517 people in 291 villages under the four revenue circles of Dhemaji district have been affected by the floods this year. The total population of the district is around 5 lakh. The floods, particularly that of August 15 caused severe dislocation of the road link between a vast area of the district and the rest of the country. Inside the district too internal road connection was also affected in many areas.

According to a report, seven major roads and six Prime Minister's Gram-Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) roads under the PWD Dhemaji State Road Division were affected by the floods this year. It is estimated that restoration of these roads would require an amount of Rs 152.47 lakh.

Altogether, 40 roads under the PWD Dhemaji Rural Road Division were affected by the floods and according to a rough estimate it is expected that these roads could be fully restored permanently with an investment of Rs 50 crore.

According to another report, the floodwaters affected a total crop area of 15,982 hectares and 2,770 hectares of crop area was buried under sand and silt.

The Dhemaji district agriculture office has drawn a contingency plan for the benefit of 32,677 flood-hit farming families with an estimated investment of Rs 2, 89, 75,280. This plan will cover an area of 8,000 hectares.

Four public water supply schemes (PWSS) of Sisiborgaon Development Block and one PWSS in Dhemaji Development Block were affected by the floods.

Moreover, 605 spot water sources in Sissiborgaon Development Block area and 740 spot water sources in Dhemaji Development Block area were also affected by the floods, said the official report of the Public Health Engineering Department.

In Dhemaji town, an area of 12 hectares was affected by the floods. Altogether, ten roads, including four approach roads to RCC box-type culverts were damaged by the flood waters. The total amount of the damage caused by the floods in the town area has been worked out by the Dhemaji Town Committee as Rs 5.88 crore.

The Dhemaji district administration is assessing the value of the total damage caused by the floods in terms of crop area, public utilities etc. By this time the district administration has submitted a proposal to the State Government for an amount of Rs 1, 63, 24,000 for providing financial assistance, including gratuitous relief, to the victim families.

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