GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday, August 12, said the state government may need to spend more than ₹1,000 crore on compensation and rehabilitation for people affected by the latest wave of floods.
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"There is a possibility that the State government may have to spend over Rs 1,000 crore towards compensation and rehabilitation," he said.
Addressing a press conference in Guwahati, Sarma said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured full support from the Centre for the rehabilitation process.
The Chief Minister said the government launched a rapid relief assessment drive on August 9 to assess the extent of damage and provide permanent relief to affected families. An initial assessment of more than 8,000 families has estimated damage worth around ₹150 crore, he said.
The assessment will continue until August 30 and is expected to cover around 50,000 to 60,000 families in severely affected districts of Upper Assam.
Sarma said the assessment would be conducted in multiple stages, with the final survey expected to be completed by September.
After the first phase, the government will publish a draft list of beneficiaries eligible for rehabilitation assistance and compensation. Residents will be given an opportunity to raise objections or point out omissions in the list.
A second round of assessment will then be conducted from September 1 to September 10 to verify the findings of the first survey, Sarma said.
He added that a separate team of teachers would carry out the re-verification to ensure greater impartiality and accuracy in the process.
As part of the third level of verification, survey teams from districts that were not affected by the floods will visit the affected areas and conduct fresh checks.
Sarma said the government aims to establish a comprehensive verification mechanism so that genuine beneficiaries are not left out and ineligible claims are not included.
The government will also establish a formal grievance redressal mechanism through which residents can file complaints or seek corrections in cases of omissions or inaccuracies in the beneficiary lists.