Assam disaster mgmt body gears up before monsoon to fight floods

Guwahati: The disaster management authority across all the districts has geared up along with the other departments, including PWD, agriculture, water resources department and state disaster response force (SDRF), to tackle the devastating floods that hit the state every monsoon. The deluge results in loss of human and animal lives as well as property every year.
Meanwhile, the state executive committee of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) has approved the proposal of granting Rs 11 lakh to the general administrative department for renovation, repair and extension of the state emergency operation centre. This would be part of implementation of the project, Emergency Response Support System.
“The districts have convened meetings with the departments on the preparations required to deal with the floods during the monsoon. However, the ASDMA has not yet convened any meeting centrally. It will soon hold a meeting with the districts regarding the preparations,” an official said.
According to the ASDMA data, till date, Assam has recorded over 550 embankment breaches from time to time since 2011 due to the ravaging floods that hit the state every year following the southwest monsoons.
The state had recorded 283 embankment breaches due to flooding in 2015. This is the highest number of breaches recorded in a year since 2011. Twenty embankment breaches were recorded last year, while five in 2021, 24 in 2020, 38 in 2019, 25 in 2018, 26 in 2017, 26 in 2016, 31 in 2014, 17 in 2013 and 54 in 2011. No data on embankment breach for 2012 was available with the authorities.