All-stakeholder consultation meeting held for flood preparedness in Assam

Guwahati: To push flood preparedness in the state, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) organised an all-stakeholder flood preparedness consultation in the state’s capital Guwahati.

Over 40 departments and state and central agencies took part in the consultations. The meeting was the culmination of a series of thematic flood preparedness discussions ASDMA has been holding with line departments, and various state as well as central responding agencies connected with disaster preparedness, response and recovery, before the onset of the flood season in the state.

To prepare for the flood season, a stratified approach has been adopted by the ASDMA under which flood preparedness has been divided into thematic groups like Coordination of Response, Relief Camp Management, Ensuring Continuity of Services, Critical Infrastructure Preparedness, Risk Communication, and Reporting and Damage Assessment.

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As part of these efforts, consultations have been held with various departments including the Power, Education and Public Works Department (PWD) among others, along with the Department of Telecom (DoT), Fire & Emergency Services (F&ES), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) to spruce up the preparedness for response and recovery in their areas of responsibility.

The coordination meeting took stock of various action points for flood preparedness decided as part of the consultations by different departments. Along with the State Disaster Relief Fund norms, Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) rice distribution for flood relief was also discussed.

As part of the deliberations, officials of the NDRF, SDRF and F&ES discussed measures for prompt response and recovery during the floods. During the discussions, officials of the North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC) and India Meteorological Department (IMD) were apprised of the measures taken up for early flood warnings during the forthcoming monsoon season.

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According to the Assam Water Resources Department, the state faces a major problem of bank erosion by the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers and their tributaries. Every year, the damages caused by erosion in Assam run into several hundred crores. Bank erosion by these rivers has posed a serious threat for the past six decades as land measuring over 4.27 lakh hectares has been eroded, which equals 7.40 per cent of Assam’s total area.

According to an assessment, the annual average loss of land in Assam is nearly 8,000 hectares. Due to Bank erosion, the width of the Brahmaputra River has increased up to 15 kilometres at some places. The surveys that are being carried out reflect an alarming scenario in regard to the widening of the Brahmaputra river.