By IANS,
Guwahati : Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi Friday undertook a one-and-half-hour aerial survey of flood-hit districts of the state, even as the government announced a Rs.200-crore scheme to revive agriculture.
Gogoi prioritised rescue of marooned people, and provision of relief material to those whose homes have been submerged.
“We have to reach out to the flood affected people and provide succour to them in their hour of need,” he said, after meeting officials at Morigaon Friday.
The chief minister made an aerial survey over Morigaon, Darrang, Sonitpur, Lakhimpur and Dhemaji, besides the worst affected Kazaringa National Park and the Majuli River Island.
The chief minister is expected to undertake another aerial survey of flood-hit areas in Sivasagar, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts. He is scheduled to meet district administration officials from these districts Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Assam government has announced a Rs.200-crore scheme for the revival of agriculture in the state, after the severe hit the sector has taken with the three waves of floods since June this year.
Assam Agriculture Minister Nilamoni Sen Deka made the announcement during a press conference at Dispur Friday. He said that the state government had formulated a special Rs. 200-crore programme to help the agriculture sector, for which funds would be made available by the central and state governments.
“The farm sector has suffered huge losses during the floods. During the current, the third wave of floods this year, 3.28 lakh hectare of cultivated land has been affected,” Deka said, adding that the proposed scheme would provide assistance to 11.83 lakh people and cover 4.10 lakh hectares of farm land.
“Under this scheme, we will provide seeds of mustard, potato, paddy hybrid, paddy HYV and other crops for both rabi (crops sown in winter, harvested in summer) and kharif (monsoon) cropping. Fertilizers would also be supplied to the farmers under the scheme,” the minister said.
Under the scheme, farmers would be entitled to 50 percent subsidy for the purchase of tractors and power tillers.
The minister said that the agriculture department had cancelled all forms of leave of all agriculture department officers for the next two months, till the time of rabi sowing, to make up for the loss of kharif crop due to floods.