Friday 20 July 2012
Flood of relief materials in Majuli :
| - NGOs in queue as administration tackles ‘heartening’ response |
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Jorhat, July 19: Managing the flood
was hard, but controlling the overwhelming response in terms of relief
is not proving to be a cakewalk either for the Jorhat district
administration.
As the floods hit Majuli island twice
within a span of less than 20 days — on June 25 and July 15 — the Majuli
sub-divisional and Jorhat district administrations tackled the problem
by setting up relief camps, providing relief to the victims and taking
measures to prevent the spread of water-borne disease. But now the
administration is confronted with the task of managing the rush of
relief material for the flood-hit victims.
Relief materials, worth nearly Rs 1 crore,
have already been distributed. The administration has now asked a few
organisations, which have come forward to help people affected by the
second wave of floods, to wait for a few days.
More than one lakh people have been hit by
the two waves of floods but the intensity of the second wave has been
less than the first one with only about 10 villages under Luitporia gaon
panchayat being affected. No relief camp has been set up this time, as
houses were not submerged.
Jorhat deputy commissioner R.C. Jain told The Telegraph
here today that the response from various groups, including
international organisations, for the flood-affected people of Majuli was
“very heartening”. He said over 20 organisations had contributed in a
big way. Many local groups had also contributed on a lower scale, he
added.
“Altogether Rs 1 crore worth of relief
materials given by NGOs has already been distributed to the flood-hit
people of Majuli and many are still coming forward. We are requesting
them to wait a few days to let those organisations who are distributing
relief material at present to complete their work,” Jain said.
He said as news of parts of Majuli getting
submerged was splashed in the media, his office got offers of
assistance from various organisations and agencies. The administration
had to make plans to allot and guide the organisations in distributing
relief materials in the affected areas.
Some of the top donors are Ramkrishna
Mission, Belur Math, which distributed relief materials worth about Rs
25 lakh, the International Red Cross Society, which gave shelter kits
worth about Rs 20 lakh, the Rotary Club of Jorhat, which distributed
kits (each kit having 52 items) worth Rs 15 lakh, ONGC, which handed
over materials worth Rs 4 lakh, the Upper Assam Chamber of Commerce,
which distributed materials worth Rs 3 lakh, Supreme Master (Ching Hai),
which distributed materials worth Rs 3 lakh, and the Thengal Kachari
Autonomous Council, which gave materials worth Rs 3 lakh.
Majuli sub-divisional officer (civil) S.R.
Khanikar said at least six organisations have been requested to wait
for a few days so that there was no overlapping in the distribution of
the relief materials.
-Abakash Majuli
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