Women wade through a flooded area in Chandamari village in Goalpara district to reach higher ground. Picture by UB Photos

New Delhi, Sept. 26: Union home minister Rajnath Singh will visit Assam and Meghalaya early next week to review the flood situation.

Over 80 people have died in landslides and floods in the two states. Singh had visited Kashmir during the recent floods, after which Prime Minister Narendra Modi toured the flood-affected Jammu and Srinagar to declare the situation a national disaster.

On Monday, the home minister will chair a special gathering on the foundation day of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

Ever since taking over as home minister, Singh has been fighting the odds of a power equation that weighs heavily against him. The shots are called in the PMO, either by Modi or the National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval, sources said.

Junior minister, Kiren Rijiju, who is said to be close to Modi, has been travelling to the border areas and last week, he was briefed on the crisis on the Sino-Indian border for almost an hour.

Singh’s visit to Assam will be arranged after he receives a report from two junior ministers who went to Assam to review the flood situation, sources said. Rijiju and sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal visited the flooded areas yesterday. Inclement weather in Meghalaya today did not allow Rijiju’s helicopter to land in Tura, home ministry sources said.

“Water is receding and rain has stopped in Assam but we are informed of rains in Meghalaya,” the source added.

Disaster management has been a division under the ministry of home affairs headed by a joint secretary but North Block is essentially a nodal office for coordination with departments like defence, agriculture and urban development ministries.

Loss estimate

Meghalaya suffered a loss of approximately Rs 1,170 crore, according to a preliminary report on the damages caused by the recent floods and landslides, reports Rining Lyngdoh from Shillong.

Deputy chief minister in-charge revenue and disaster, R.C. Laloo, today said the overall assessment of damage will be done in detail once the floodwaters recede and the roads are opened.

“As of today, it is not possible to conduct a detailed assessment, as the officials could not reach all areas in the affected districts,” Laloo said.

He said the rough assessment of losses does not include many sectors because conducting the preliminary assessment was still a difficult task. We will seek the Centre’s assistance, he added.