GUWAHATI:
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said six people have been identified as culprits behind the breaching of an embankment that led to a devastating flood in Silchar town.
On May 24, the Water Resources Department had registered a police complaint against unknown miscreants for cutting through the embankment at Bethukandi, about 3 km from the centre of the town, to let the rain-accumulated water of a wetland drain into the Barak river.
“A case has now been registered by the CID in Guwahati. The Additional Director-General of Police of CID will head the investigation into the case and a special task force will monitor the probe,” Mr. Sarma told reporters in Silchar, the headquarters of Cachar district.
“I can assure the people that strict action will be taken against those who are behind damaging the embankment. Six people have already been identified as culprits behind the mischief,” he said after inspecting the embankment repairing work at Bethukandi during his third visit to Silchar since June 22.
The Chief Minister also distributed a cheque of ₹4 lakh each to the kin of 10 people killed in the Silchar flood. The process of granting relief to the kin of other people who died would be completed soon.
“The district authorities have been asked to submit the damage and loss reports by July 15 to the government for ensuring quick disbursement of compensation,” Mr. Sarma said.
On Thursday, the State’s Minister for Public Health Engineering and Tourism, Jayanta Malla Baruah said the unprecedent flood had inflicted a damage of at least ₹1,000-crore on the people of Silchar.
Floods and landslips have killed more than 245 people across four north-eastern States since April. Assam leads the table with 173 killed followed by Meghalaya with 34 while at least 18 have died in Arunachal Pradesh.
A massive landslip killed at least 21 people, including Territorial Army and railway officials, in Manipur’s Noney district. The death toll is expected to increase with efforts on to pull 53 more people, mostly labourers from Assam, out of the debris.
A fresh wave of floods in Assam, caused by heavy rainfall in Arunachal Pradesh upstream, has so far affected 29.7 lakh people across 30 districts. More than 3.03 lakh people have taken refuge across 563 relief camps.
