Silchar: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has expressed his support for the people of Assam and urged the Centre to provide immediate assistance. He visited a flood relief camp in Fulertal, Assam’s Cachar district, and called for a comprehensive and compassionate vision to alleviate the extreme devastation caused by flooding. Gandhi also expressed concern over the mismanagement of the BJP’s double engine government, which came to power with the promise of a flood-free Assam.
Gandhi visited a camp of internally displaced people who had taken shelter at Thalain in Cachar district following violence in neighboring Manipur. Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhupen Borah submitted a memorandum to Gandhi urging him to take up the issue of the devastating flood with the Centre as a special case to get adequate relief and compensation for the severe losses incurred due to the deluge.
Borah alleged that the key to Assam’s flood problem lay in the hills, with large-scale deforestation leading to siltation in rivers and rising riverbeds. He also highlighted the need for a pan-Northeast water management authority, suitably empowered by Parliament, to control floods in the long term.
The short-term solution is strengthening current flood management infrastructure like embankments and providing immediate relief and rehabilitation to those affected. Congress leaders, MPs, MLAs, frontal heads, district committees, and other party organizations are touring flood-affected areas and helping the people. Gandhi will return to Silchar airport from Jiribam and fly to Imphal for the next leg of his Manipur tour.
