Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, July 13: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is directly monitoring the Northeast flood situation in States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur and that on the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, two high-level Central Teams, including officials from Disaster Management, have been deputed to tour the affected areas of these three States and submit their report for further perusal.
Speaking to media after convening a high-level meeting to review the current flood situation, Dr Jitendra Singh disclosed that the Central Government is maintaining a regular contact with the State Governments and responding with whatever help required. He said, he is himself directly in touch with the three Chief Ministers of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur, namely Pema Khandu, Sarbananda Sonowal and N. Biren Singh. He said, even this morning, he personally spoke to all the three Chief Ministers and all of them expressed satisfaction over the prompt and overwhelming assistance provided to them by the Centre.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, even though these States have been experiencing floods frequently in the past and Manipur went through worst experience in 2015, but the difference this time is that the rainfall has been unexpectedly very high and in just first 12 days of the month of July this year, the overall rainfall in these areas has recorded more than 100% increase compared to the previous years. This has also greatly hampered the relief and rescue works in the affected areas, he said.
Giving a broad outline of the current situation, Dr Jitendra Singh said, so far, in total, there have been about 80 deaths in addition to the loss of property and agricultural land. The power supply and the telephone connectivity has also been adversely affected, of which the concerned authorities are taking due cognizance.
Dr Jitendra Singh recommended the use of modern hi-tech means, including Space Technology and Satellite Imaging through ISRO, for damage assessment and surveys and said, this had proved quite useful from the experience during the Kashmir flood in 2014.
Secretary DoNER Naveen Verma, Joint Secretary PMO Tarun Bajaj, Joint Secretary Disaster Management, MHA, Sanjeev Kumar Jindal, Assam Resident Commissioner Rwitticka Kalita, Arunachal Pradesh Resident Commissioner Geetanjali Gupta and Deputy Resident Commissioner Manipur Jenee Thoidingjam were among those present in the meeting.
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