Assam faces Rs 1,000-crore flood rehab bill, PM warns against fake claims

The Story in Brief

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday that Assam may need over Rs 1,000 crore to rehabilitate flood-affected families after two waves of floods since April that hit 25 districts, affected over 1.2 million people and killed 101. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured full central support under the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment framework but insisted that no family that suffered no loss be included in the assessment.

A three-layer survey is underway. Assessments of 8,325 families have been completed, showing damages worth more than Rs 150 crore so far. Around 60,000 families are expected to be identified by August 30. After a draft list is published, a second round of verification by teachers will run from September 1 to 10, followed by a third check by surveyors from unaffected districts. The government has also released Rs 2.5 lakh each for 494 damaged anganwadi centres and plans similar aid for flood-affected namghars.