GUWAHATI, July 3 � The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) today hit out at Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and said that the Rs 500 crore grant announced by him would not help the people of Assam, particularly the flood hit people in any way.
AGP president Prafulla Kumar Mahanta said that the Prime Minister�s short visit to the State yesterday failed to give any ray of hope to the people of Assam and pointed out that the problem of flood would not be solved till it is declared as a national problem. He said that the loss suffered by the State in flood and erosion was much more than Rs 500 crore as lakhs of people lost their homes, farm land and crops, while floods also damaged infrastructure.
Mahanta demanded that the Centre should immediately conduct a scientific study of the river Brahmaputra and its tributaries by engaging experts from abroad if required and take effective measures to deal with flood and erosion.
The AGP president said that during the tenure of the Deve Gowda Government at the Centre, the AGP managed to persuade the Centre to declare a major package for the State to deal with flood and erosion. But unfortunately, the projects could not be implemented as the Deve Gowda Government did not last long. However, the Congress Government in the State failed to persuade its own Government at the Centre to declare a generous package for dealing with flood and erosion, Mahanta alleged.
