Central team arrives in Assam to take stock of flood damage

The Chief Secretary of Assam, Vinod Kumar, chaired a meeting with the visiting Inter-Ministerial team to assess the damage caused by recent floods at Assam, in Guwahati, on Tuesday.

The seven-member team is on a visit to Assam following the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after his meeting with Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on July 18 in New Delhi, a statement said.

The team is led by Joint Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs, V. Shashank Shekhar.

"The team will conduct an on-the-spot assessment of the flood situation and will be visiting flood affected areas of Biswanath, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Barpeta, Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj districts of Assam from July 25 to July 28, 2017," the statement read.

"Chairing the meeting, Vinod Kumar Pipersenia apprised the team about the pro-active measures taken by the State Government to minimize suffering of those affected by flood," it added.

The Commissioner and Secretary, Revenue Rajesh Prasad gave an overview of the present flood scenario and resultant damages in the meeting.

The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) says that 11,93,458 people have been suffering in 1,795 villages in 24 districts.

Assam has been dealing with heavy floods since mid-July.