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Manmohan urged to take up dam breach with Bhutan

By Sushanta Talukdar

GUWAHATI, JULY 11. The Assam Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi, has urged the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, to take up with the Bhutan Government the matter of adequate measures to safeguard the dam on the Tsatichu artificial lake. In a letter yesterday, Mr. Gogoi also asked Dr. Singh to send a team to assess the flood situation in the State, which has turned critical.

The Bhutan authorities had alerted the Central Water Commission that the dam on the Tsatichu lake, above the Kurichu hydel project, had breached around 5.20 p.m. yesterday and that water was likely to merge with the Manas river basin. As both the Manas and the Beki are flowing above the danger mark, it is feared that water from the Kurichu could cause severe flooding in the Manas National Park. The State Government has sounded a red alert in the districts bordering Bhutan.

Mr. Gogoi said that the National Highway 31 was likely to be submerged by six to seven feet of water due to the heavy flow from the Himalayan Kingdom.

The Brahmaputra and its tributaries have breached their embankments at 24 points, causing massive damage to bridges, roads, electrical installations, panchayat and school buildings and irrigation canals. An estimated 20 lakh people have been affected and 10,678 houses washed away.

Four lakh houses in 2,286 villages have been partially damaged. The standing crop on three lakh hectares has been submerged.

As the rivers were still flowing above the danger levels, the State Government apprehends that more breaches could occur.

Mr. Gogoi has also requested the Centre to provide seven MI-8 helicopters and 300 rubber boats for relief and rescue operations.

It was proposed to station three helicopters at Guwahati, two at Jorhat and one each at Tezpur, Dibrugarh and Silchar.

He also requested the Centre to bear the cost of operating the choppers. More than 400 school children marooned in lower Assam's Kamrup district were rescued by IAF copters on Friday. The children were stranded on the roof of a school building.

The Budget session of the Assembly, scheduled to begin on Monday, was rescheduled today in the wake of the prevailing situation.

A decision to this effect was taken at an all-party meting convened by the Speaker, Prithvi Majhi.

A meeting of the Business Advisory Committee, held after the all-party meeting, decided that after a short session tomorrow, the House would not meet till July 19.

Rs. 1,200 crores sought

UNI reports:

Mr. Gogoi also urged the Centre to immediately sanction a sum of Rs. 1,200 crores under the National Calamity Contingency. "The State has suffered heavy loss of life and property following incessant rains during the past few days in the catchment areas of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Bhutan."

The State Government has already sanctioned a sum of Rs. 60 crores for carrying out relief and rescue operations, including the distribution of relief materials such as food, medicines, drinking water and fodder for cattle. It has also sanctioned Rs. 10,000 to those whose houses had been damaged.

The North East Frontier Railway said that all trains to and from Guwahati had been diverted from the mainline to an alternative route via Kamakhya and Jogigopa following floods in Nalbari and Barpeta. Sources said that all 30 pairs of trains had been diverted but no train had been cancelled so far. The original route through Rongia has been suspended for an indefinite period.

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