TURA, July 21 - With flood waters receding very slowly in the plain belt of West and South West Garo Hills (SWGH) districts, the Anti-Corruption and Human Development Organisation (ACHDO) has urged an extension of the Gratuitous Relief (GR) being provided to the flood victims.
The plain belt of Garo Hills has seen one of the worst floods in recent memory with more than 1.65 lakh people affected. Many of the affected have taken shelter in relief camps.
The district administrations of West Garo Hills and SWGH had declared GR of seven and five days respectively which came to an end today.
The situation in the affected areas, however, is far from normal with water receding at a snail�s pace. Moreover, thousands of families are stuck in flood relief camps as their homes are still under water.
�Water has started receding but it is far from normal. We expect it take at least another week or more for normalcy. There are many still in camps, who have not been able to earn wages for over a week now. Most of those affected are poor people and as such we urge the government to extend GR by at least seven days,� said president of ACHDO, Ishraful Hoque.
The NGO added that relief should continue until normalcy returns and should be monitored by a committee. Further, they added that the flood victims had lost their paddy, nurseries and cattle which should be compensated.
Meanwhile, the administration of South West and West Garo Hills have decided to extend GR even as flood waters have not receded in the affected areas.
Ram Singh, DC of WGH extended GR by another week. �We will take stock after a week and extend it if still required,� said the DC.
DC of SWGH, Ram Kumar S has stated they were looking at an extension of GR for three more days.
