GUWAHATI, Sept 24 � Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today requested Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to raise the ex-gratia to the next of kin of those who died and sustained injuries in the incidents related to flood and landslides and enhance the Central assistance for damaged houses and cropped land.
The Union Home Minister, who called up the Chief Minister to take stock of the flood situation in the State, assured the latter of all possible Central help and assistance and asked him (Gogoi) to submit a proposal in this regard, said an official press release here.
As many as 15 people have lost their lives in the current wave of floods, either being drowned in the floods or killed in landslides across the State. However, the death toll is likely to go up, the press release stated.
The Chief Minister, in course of the telephonic talk in the morning, apprised the Union Home Minister about the slew of steps taken by the State government to rescue the marooned people in the flood-hit areas of Goalpara, Dhubri, Kamrup (Metro), Kamrup and other districts with the assistance of NDRF, SDRF, Army and paramilitary forces.
Gogoi told Singh that scores of marooned people have been evacuated and efforts are on to rescue the rest of the stranded ones.
The Chief Minister told the Home Minister that though a slight improvement in the flood situation was visible following a let-up in rainfall in the past 24 hours, the overall situation remained �grim and critical� till date.
He also apprised the Home Minister of the relief operations being carried out by the district administrations and the opening up of relief camps for the flood affected people.
