Guwahati: The Assam government has increased the ex gratia for families of people killed in this year’s floods to Rs 9 lakh and relaxed the norms for claiming compensation as the flood death toll rose to 75 with seven more fatalities reported in the last 24 hours.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that, in addition to the existing Rs 4 lakh ex gratia, the state will provide an additional Rs 5 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to the next of kin of each deceased victim.
The government has also waived the mandatory requirement of a post-mortem report for availing compensation. A certificate issued by the concerned circle officer will now be sufficient.
In cases where flood victims remain missing and their bodies are not recovered within a month, families will also be eligible for the Rs 9 lakh ex gratia, with the circle officer authorised to issue the necessary certificate.
The announcements came as the flood toll climbed to 75 after seven deaths were reported from the Nazira revenue circle in Sivasagar district on Tuesday.
According to officials, seven districts—Sivasagar, Charaideo, Golaghat, Jorhat, Nagaon, Sonitpur and Kamrup Metropolitan, remain affected by the floods, although the number of affected people has declined to 3.32 lakh from 4.45 lakh on Monday.
Charaideo remains the worst-hit district with 1.42 lakh affected people, followed by Sivasagar with 97,074 and Jorhat with 57,371.
Floodwaters continue to affect 21 revenue circles and 622 villages across the state.
A total of 81 relief camps, sheltering 32,477 displaced people, and 34 relief distribution centres are currently operational.
Sarma said the government was also focusing on the welfare of children staying in relief camps by creating dedicated spaces for learning and recreation.
The chief minister further announced an interim assistance of Rs 15,000 for severely affected families in Sivasagar, Charaideo, Jorhat and Golaghat districts to meet immediate household needs.
Students in Sivasagar and Charaideo will receive assistance for uniforms and textbooks, while higher secondary, undergraduate and postgraduate students will be provided financial support to purchase books.
Rescue and relief operations by the Army, Air Force, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Fire and Emergency Services and civil volunteers continued in the affected districts.
Officials said 45,341.98 hectares of cropland remain submerged, while damage has also been reported to houses, cowsheds, schools and anganwadi centres.
To ensure uninterrupted communication, the intra-circle roaming (ICR) facility has been extended in Sivasagar district until 11.59 pm on July 30, allowing subscribers of different telecom operators to access available networks in the flood-affected areas.