GUWAHATI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Tuesday that the Centre will provide assistance to Assam for undertaking flood management projects in the state as part of the Union Budget for 2024-25.
Notably, several regions of the country are facing huge damage and extensive losses due to floods and natural calamities.
“Assam grapples with floods every year by the Brahmaputra River and its tributaries, originating outside India. We will provide assistance to Assam for flood management and related projects,” Sitharaman said in her Budget speech in Lok Sabha.
The Finance Minister said that along with Assam, the Centre will provide aid to Himachal Pradesh for flood management.
“The government will also provide assistance to Uttarakhand and Sikkim, which have suffered losses due to cloud bursts, devastating flash floods, and massive landslides,” Sitharaman said.
She said, “Sikkim recently experienced severe flash floods and landslides. Our government will provide the necessary support to help the state recover from these disasters.”
The government has committed Rs 11,500 crore to Bihar’s flood mitigation, underscoring its nationwide focus on flood relief.
Assam is grappling with a severe flood crisis, impacting over 1,30,000 people and 423 villages across 10 districts. The districts affected by the flood are Kamrup, Morigaon, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Goalpara, Sivasagar, Cachar, Dhubri, Karimganj, Nalbari, Nagaon, Dhemaji, and Kamrup Metropolitan. The Brahmaputra River continues to flow above the red mark in Dhubri, and Disang in Nanglamuraghat.
The deluge has also wreaked havoc in several parts of the state as it has caused massive damage to infrastructure like embankments, houses, roads, and bridges.
The devastating floods, combined with landslides, lightning, and storms, have claimed 113 lives this year.
