By IANS,
New Delhi : The Supreme Court Monday issued notice to the central government on a petition that has sought direction to put in place a permanent mechanism for preventing floods in the Brahmaputra river in the northeast.
An apex court bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir, Justice S.S. Nijjar and Justice J. Chelameswar also issued notice to Assam and Arunachal Pradesh after it was told that poverty in Assam was linked to the devastation caused by floods.
The petition filed by Prodyut K. Bora, general secretary of the Assam unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party, sought directions to the central government and the two state governments to implement the recommendations of the Brahmaputra Board.
The board was formed by the central government through an act in 1980 for planning and integrated implementation of measures to control floods and bank erosion in the Brahmaputra Valley.
The petition said it was an irony that Assam had failed to cope with the devastation caused by the recent floods that displaced 22 lakh people in 22 districts.
Bora, a management consultant and native of Jorhat city, also sought special central funds for ensuring a permanent solution to floods in Assam.
While seeking a report on steps taken and proposed to prevent floods, the petition sought the appointment of a local commissioner to inspect and report to the court “the nature and extent of damage” caused by the recent floods.
Appearing for Bora, counsel P. Niroop Reddy told the apex court that for long the government has not formulated the flood management plan (FMP) to tame floods in the Brahmaputra.
“Someone has to act under the central act,” he told the court.
Even the Planning Commission in a report said that “poverty in Assam is directly linked to floods”, the petition noted.
In 2004-05, Assam had 34.4 percent people below poverty line as against the national average of 37.2 percent. This has increased to 37.9 percent against the declining national average of 29.8 percent in 2009-10, the petition said, quoting the report.