Some love a good flood - Demands for mineral water, meat & fish stump govt officials

A STAFF REPORTER

Government officials wade through knee-deep water during a visit to the flood-affected areas Guwahati, July 16: Bottled mineral water in place of normal drinking water, fish and meat for lunch and dinner (khichdi is for the ailing) on time and boats for every family. This is not a picnic list but demands by the flood-hit people of the district of Dhemaji to government officials who had gone to distribute rice and dal. The demands have left the officials — used to distributing chira, muri and gur or at best rice and lentils to the flood-hit — stumped. More so, when the officials risked their own necks to save several lives during the flash flood last week. One of them even joked: “Everybody loves a good flood,” reminding one of P. Sainath’s bestselling book, Everybody Loves a Good Drought: Stories from India's Poorest Districts, exposing corruption that accompanied the annual natural calamities in Orissa. Sources in Dispur said reports suggested that if not everybody, a certain section certainly loves a good flood because with the gushing water comes a lot of government dole in the form of food, tin sheds, tarpaulin and even cash. “Things came to such a pass that the deputy commissioner was accosted by the flood-hit for mineral water and at some places people tried to snatch his boat. We are doing all we can and we understand that wants are unlimited but in times of distress we need to curb our wants. It is not a picnic,” a source said. Even long-time MLA from Dhemaji and AGP general secretary Dilip Saikia said if the reports are true then it is unfortunate. “No government can meet such demands. But since I come from that region I will say that the situation is bad and that a food crisis is looming. Roads and rail link is still snapped. The government is not doing much.” Saying the demands came from areas such as Dihingia Gaon, Moroni Tinali and Gogomukh, a senior official said the administration, headed by Diwakar Misra, in his first posting as deputy commissioner, is doing its best to extend relief to all the affected, which has come down from 40,000 to 30,000. The administration has distributed 1,000 quintals of rice, 20 quintals of salt and 100 quintals of dal to the displaced now housed in four relief camps and temporary shelters. A relief camp inmate was not amused though. “There are some people who instigate the flood-hit people to voice such lofty demands. The government should understand that. But saying that everybody loves a good flood is going too far,” he said. Governor Ajai Singh today sought the help of the army to build a Bailey bridge and accordingly a three-member team of its engineering task force reached Dhemaji today. “They will start work from tomorrow,” a Raj Bhawan release said. The flash flood occurred on the morning of July 12 because of a breach in the embankment of Kumotia, a major tributary of the Brahmaputra. The breach was, in turn, caused by heavy rain in the upper reaches of neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh.