Guwahati: Following incessant rain, a rise in water level was witnessed in the Brahmaputra River in Assam. Guwahati Development Department (GDD) minister Ashok Singhal on Friday (June 16), inspected the water pumps and sluice gate of the Bharalu River, a tributary of Brahmaputra River. The minister instructed the officials to ensure the sluice gate of Bharalu River functions smoothly.
Today we inspected the water pumps and sluice gate of Bharalu river and instructed the officials to ensure the sluice gate of Bharalu river functions smoothly to avoid any hindrance to the flow of water from Guwahati city, the minister said in a tweet.
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Meanwhile, the flood situation in Assam’s Lakhimpur remains grim. As the water levels of many rivers are rising up following incessant rain and a few districts of Assam have been affected in the first spell of flood, the state government is ready to deal with any kind of situation and directed all districts to be alert.
The Assam government is in touch with all agencies including the Indian army, Indian Air Force (IAF), NDRF to tackle the emergency situation.
The Brahmaputra was flowing over the red mark in Nematighat in Jorhat district, a Central Water Commission (CWC) morning report said.
Talking about the flood preparedness made by the state government, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Assam Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) Gyanendra Dev Tripathi told ANI that, the overall situation is building up, not at its peak and it is the start of flood season, but the state government is fully prepared to deal with any kind of situation.
We are focused on more preparedness starting from January 2023. We have done extensive deliberations and consultations with all the stakeholders, all the responding agencies, all the warning-giving agencies, all the information-providing agencies. We have done thematic discussions and thereafter we have done district preparedness, score card which has shown tremendous improvement over the preparedness that was last year. We have checked the preparedness this year, the districts are much better prepared in comparison to last year. We are fully geared up for dealing with flood situation, said Gyanendra Dev Tripathi.
GD Tripathi further said,
During pre-monsoon, we didn’t receive much rainfall and there was a huge deficit of rainfall. The monsoon was supposed to come from June 5, but it came on June 10 and some of the districts experienced some degree of floods particularly Lakhimpur district because of huge rainfall in neighbouring states as well as in Lakhimpur district and number of people have been affected. The overall situation is building up, not at its peak and it is the start of flood season,
He further said that, as part of the preparedness, all the agencies including Indian army, Indian Air Force, NDRF, SDRF, Fire and Emergency Services, Central Water Commission, Indian Meteorological Department, all the warning giving agencies, all are on hold and we have in common alerting protocol system where the alerts from all the agencies are shared, with the geographical location system, so we can target a particular locality and shared the warning with the people of the particular area.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Saturday directed officials to ensure the availability of critical health services in flood-affected regions of Assam and stressed on strong coordination between central and state institutions for effective management of the situation.
Addressing a virtual meeting with central and state health agencies, Dr Mandaviya directed them to prepare an online database listing information like the availability of beds, oxygen and other health facilities to ensure efficient management of any health emergency.
Assam’s flood situation worsened on Friday with incessant rainfall inundating new areas across 11 districts and impacting over 34,000 people.
He underscored the need for the preparedness of critical health services as well as the availability of clean drinking water in flood-affected regions in Assam.
Dr. Mandaviya highlighted the need for strong coordination between the central and state health institutions for the effective management of floods and any other emergencies.
He asked the officials to work on a flood-management model to deal with the flood situation in Assam, which is a recurring phenomenon.
The health minister also emphasised preventive healthcare and greater awareness among the communities regarding vector-borne and water-borne diseases, the statement said.
Dr Mandaviya also exhorted the officials to ensure that the Health and Wellness Centres are well equipped with required medicines, functioning medical equipment and other amenities, the statement said.
He directed authorities to train all health workers at Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs) so that they are well equipped to provide requisite healthcare services critically required during such emergencies.
The ASHAs, ANMs, CHOs etc., should know their roles and responsibilities for any emergency. Advance training will ensure that they are effective in providing healthcare services during emergency flood management, he stated.
Avinash Joshi, Principal Secretary (Health) Assam informed that all necessary medicines are in adequate stock.
The Deputy Commissioners from the six districts — Barpeta, Kamrup, Cachar, Lakhimpur, Dima Hasao and Dibrugarh — who joined the review meeting assured that they were regularly reviewing the preparedness to ensure effective management of any floods.
Dr Atul Goel, DGHS, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare stated that their regional offices are in preparation for supporting the state government.
A team of specialists from AIIMS Guwahati and the National Centre for Disease Control will be deployed to assist the state whenever required, the statement said.
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(With inputs from ANI and PTI)
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