IMPHAL, Aug 2 - Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to review the Loktak multipurpose project and Ithai barrage for a permanent solution to the frequent floods in the State.
After a meeting with Prime Minister Modi, who was on a day- long visit to Guwahati on Tuesday to take stock of the situation arising out of the floods, Chief Minister Biren Singh said that he urged the PM to review the Loktak project for a permanent solution of the frequent floods in the State.
Ithai barrage which has become the main cause of flood in the State should be removed and natural water course maintained, he felt.
The Loktak multipurpose project was taken up in 1983 to provide regulated storage to generate 105 MW of power and lift irrigation.The main component of the project include Ithai barrage (35ft high dam) across Manipur river with three spillway bays.
During the meet, the Chief Minister expressed his desire for dredging the river beds of all the rivers in the State and to conduct eviction drives against the encroachments on the banks of the rivers.
Flood damages:The Chief Minister while replying to a question by opposition Congress MLA N Loken in the ongoing Assembly session on Wednesday said that the total damages inflicted by the recent floods in Manipur has been estimated at Rs 223.83 crore which has been further increased to Rs 358.23 crore. A memorandum has been submitted to Centre for providing flood assistance, he said.
�An amount of Rs 4.70 crore has been released to the Deputy Commissioners for providing relief assistance to the affected people,� he added. �Further, the government has sanctioned an additional amount of Rs 2.10 crore for release to the DCs.�
He also informed that a total of 1,850 family tents, 42 numbers of disposable toilet tents, 172 numbers of bath toilets and 3,400 number of LED lanterns have been provided to the Deputy Commissioners. Materials such as rice, dal, edible oil, candles, mosquito coils, sugar, salt, biscuits, tea bags, etc., have been procured by the Deputy Commissioners and provided to the affected people.
Replying to a question by members S Bira and Md Fajur Rahim, State Agriculture Minister V Hangkhalian informed that a total of 78,677 hectares of agricultural land including 77,900 hectares of paddy, 307 hectares of maize, 300 hectares of pulses,150 hectares of oil seed and 20 hectares of sugarcane have been damaged in the recent floods.
The Agriculture department has provided 12.5 metric tonnes of short duration paddy seeds through the District Agriculture officers for preparing community paddy nursery across 20 hectares.