Silchar: Assam’s Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Jogen Mohan on Friday visited Dima Hasao’s New Haflong railway station to take stock of the situation in the wake of massive devastation caused by rainfall-triggered landslips and mudslides over the past week.
Speaking to the media, Jogen Mohan, who is the guardian minister of the Dima Hasao district, said that the district incurred losses of more than Rs 400 crore due to heavy floods over the past few days. “It would take some time to repair all the damage which has been caused by nature’s fury in the hilly region,” he added.
On the availability of essentials, the minister said that there are adequate stocks of essential commodities available in Haflong. Supplies will be airdropped in places like Harangajao, Laisong, Hajadisa and Khepre among others, Mohan said.
Sports Minister Bimal Borah, who was also present during the inspection, said the extent of damage in Dima Hasao and New Haflong station is “unimaginable”. The Centre and the Assam government are aware of the situation in the district and all sorts of assistance will be provided to restore normal life in this part of the state, Borah said.
“Efforts are on to repair the damaged roads and restore power supply across the district. Surface connectivity will be normalised soon if the weather does not worsen in the next few days,” Borah added.
North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council’s Chief Executive Member Debolal Gorlosa said he had never seen such a level of devastation in Dima Hasao. “I had heard that the region witnessed large-scale havoc in 1952. There was devastation in 1998 but this year nature was in its worst mood and caused damage like never before,” Garlosa said.
He said that Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is monitoring the flood situation in Dima Hasao regularly over the phone.
Minister Jogen Mohan was accompanied by MLA Nandita Gorlosa, Dima Hasao Deputy Commissioner Nazreen Ahmed, Superintendent of Police Jayant Singh along with officials of various departments.
Notably, the weather in Haflong and Dima Hasao districts is showing signs of improvement since Friday. Although Light showers were reported from many places, there were no reports of heavy rains. On Saturday, the weather mostly remained sunny. As per a weather bulletin issued by the Regional Meteorological Centre, Guwahati, the weather in Dima Hasao is most likely to improve from May 23.
Sources said that the railway authorities are making an all-out effort to repair the damaged railway tracks (which were damaged because of landslides and mudslides) in several places including Maibang, Phaiding, Bandarkhal and Damcherra. Work is also going on in various areas to normalise surface communication across the district, the sources said.
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