Government should give relief to MSEs affected in floods in Assam: FINER

Guwahati, Aug 8 (KNN) The devastating flood in Assam has so far affected hundreds of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The industry has said while the assessment of loss will take time, the government should give some relief to the small units for now.

The affected districts are Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Golaghat, Bongaigaon, Dhemaji, Dhubri, Morigaon, Kokrajhar, Dibrugarh, Biswanath, Nagaon, South Kamrup and Goalpara.

Speaking on the issue, the President of Federation of Industry & Commerce of North Eastern Region (FINER) R S Joshi said that the state has suffered huge losses due to the devastating flood in which more than 30 people have died.

He demanded that the Government should do something for Micro and Small Enterprises as they cannot afford even the small losses.

“Industries have suffered the losses also because some parts of the state has become totally cut off from the rest of the world. Assessment of loss will take time but one good thing is that water level is going down since three days,” informed the President.

Appreciating the work of both the Centre as well as the State Government, he said that state and central governments have taken a positive initiative and doing good work.

Earlier, State Industries Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said at a press conference that the government has Rs 654 crore under SDRF, out of which Rs 47.53 crore has been released to the districts for flood relief and rehabilitation measures this year.

FINER president stated that 25 districts of Assam have come in the radius of flood including lower and upper Assam.

Over 20,000 hectares of crop area are still under flood waters across the state, besides washing away number of roads, embankments, bridges and other infrastructure. (KNN Bureau)