Rijiju makes aerial survey of flood-hit Assam, Meghalaya

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Khiren Rijiju today made aerial surveys in flood-hit Assam and Meghalaya and promised central help for the two states where at least 70 people have died so far.
The Union minister first made an aerial survey of Goalpara, Kamrup Rural and Dhubri districts of Assam and then the Garo Hills region of Meghalaya.
"I will hold a meeting with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh tomorrow and brief him about the situation in Assam and Meghalaya," Rijiju told reporters.
Singh would visit the two states on October 1 to take stock of the situation, the Arunachal Pradesh MP said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be announcing a package after his return from the United States, he said.
"Whatever is necessary in this natural calamity of Assam and Meghalaya will be done and they will get adequate financial and material support from the central government. We will work as partners," he said.

There should be better and faster coordination between the central and state agencies in handling floods, besides strengthening of disaster forces, Rijiju said in Guwahati.
He said, "First, the information of the forecast and dissemination of impending danger or natural disaster should reach faster to the states and ground level officials. That we will ensure. Secondly, we need to strengthen our forces."

Asked specifically if he was happy at the way Assam government was handling the floods, he said "It is being done very well, but nothing is 100 per cent satisfactory because we always want it to be more efficient."
"It was very sudden. I want to have more coordination in the Ministry. The cloudburst and flash floods, which happened in northern part of Meghalaya and because of which this damage happened, could have been warned a little bit more earlier and more precisely," Rijiju said.
On strengthening of disaster response force, he said four NDRF teams were brought from other regions and the Union government was planning to have one more permanent centre in the North East apart from Guwahati.

"We'll decide that on the basis of location. Guwahati will take care of its surroundings and we'll decide one more location very soon," the Union minister said.
Currently, 12 teams of NDRF have been deployed for the floods in Assam and Meghalaya, each comprising 50 members.