Flood of relief materials in Majuli :

- NGOs in queue as administration tackles ‘heartening’ response

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. (News from : The Telegraph  Friday , July 20 , 2012 online news)    -Abakash Majuli