Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijju on Saturday conducted an aerial survey of flood-hit areas of Arunachal Pradesh where more than three lakh people have been affected.Rijiju, who was accompanied by Chief Minister Pema Khandu and Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, made an aerial survey of flood-affected areas in eastern districts of Lohit, Namsai and Changlang.More than 80 relief camps have been set up to accommodate the displaced people in the three districts.The flood waters have submerged 3,500 hectares of agricultural land in Namsai besides damaging roads and bridges and telecommunication infrastructure.The Union Minister, who was also accompanied by legislators, also viewed the flood condition in areas of Wakro, Namsai, Mahadevpur, Lekang, Jairampur, Miao and Chowkham.In a flood review meeting held at Namsai, Khandu said that funds for immediate flood relief through National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) have been placed with the Disaster Management Department from where it is being disbursed to the affected districts.
The Chief Minister also instructed Chief Secretary Shakuntala Gamlin, who had accompanied him for closely monitoring the immediate relief and restoration activities.He also instructed Namsai Deputy Commissioner R.K. Sharma to keep adequate provisions to meet any ration shortages for people camped in relief camps in the affected areas.Khandu informed that he has been monitoring the flood situation personally and had earlier requested the Deputy Chief Minister and all local legislators from affected areas to take stock of the flood situation in their respective districts.He appealed to the people to cooperate fully with the inter-ministerial team from the centre who would be visiting the affected areas soon - to help them prepare an "in-depth assessment" and submit its report to the Union Home Ministry "expeditiously."Also briefing about the actions being taken by the central and the state government on the flood situation, Rijiju informed that Arunachal's quota for flood-relief funds will be disbursed soon. He promised to render all possible help through the central government.