DIBRUGARH, July 21 - Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today visited flood- affected areas of Dibrugarh, Charaideo and Sivasagar districts. He repeated his time tested plea that efforts will be on to find a lasting solution to floods and erosion in the Barak and Brahmaputra valleys.
Acknowledging that the flood-affected people have been subjected to various forms of hardships during and after the floods, the Chief Minister who visited the flood victims in Lezai Kalakahowa area today said that permanent solutions to all the miseries will require time. �Just erecting an embankment may not be the solution. We will have to look for scientific solutions so that such calamities do not occur again and again. We need to carry out scientific studies of the Brahmaputra and all the major rivers that have been threatening the people in the state and find permanent ways to tame them. This will consume some amount of time,� he said.
The Chief Minister said that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi was demanding for proposals that can bring about permanent solutions to all calamities and miseries. �The state government is therefore making efforts to make thorough study of all the burning problems of the state so as to submit them to the Centre for assistance. The Namami Brahmaputra festival was one such event, which tried to explore the river and look for solutions to tame it,� said Sonowal.
The Chief Minister was accompanied by Sonari MLA Tapan Gogoi, Lahowal MLA Rituparna Baruah and Moran MLA Chakradhar Gogoi, and other government officials, heads of the various departments.
Earlier, MLA Chakradhar Gogoi in his welcome speech urged upon the Chief Minister to strengthen and raise the ring bund in the area to check floods. He also raised the problem of elephant depredation and poor road connectivity of the area before the Chief Minister. The local MLA also asked the Chief Minister to ensure that the area was connected with the Sivasagar district via a bridge over the Dehing river near Bansbari. Among the flood-affected villagers who spoke on the occasion included Labanya Handique, Niren Gohain and Debakanta Saikia.
