Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts in the field of water and river management with the international community would immensely benefit the state.

Sarma said this in response to a post by Modi praising the Netherlands’ “pioneering work in water resources” and saying “there is a lot the global community can learn” from the Dutch.

Modi said in his post: “This morning, I had the opportunity to visit the Afsluitdijk and understand the salient features of this project. I am thankful to PM Rob Jetten for accompanying me here. We are working to bring
modern technology to India aimed at helping in irrigation, flood control and expanding the inland waterway network.”

The Afsluitdijk, a 32-km-long dam and causeway, is regarded as a global benchmark in flood control and land reclamation, protecting large parts of the Netherlands from the North Sea while enabling freshwater storage.

The visit to the dam underscored the shared commitment of both nations to innovative water management solutions, climate resilience and sustainable infrastructure, an official statement said.

Reacting to Modi’s post, Sarma said: “Netherlands is indeed doing some pioneering work in water governance which is of high relevance to Assam’s flood prone and riverine landscape. We are grateful that Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodiji is personally steering efforts to strengthen India’s collaboration with the international community on water management and Assam will gain immensely from it.”

Sarma further said Assam was already deepening its partnership with various Dutch institutions on morphological modelling, forecasting and flood-risk planning.

An official statement said Modi, accompanied by Netherlands Prime Minister Rob Jetten, visited the iconic Dutch water management structure on Sunday, the concluding day of his two-day visit to the country.

Sarma’s remarks come in the context of Assam’s annual flood problem and the large-scale devastation caused every year. The state witnessed two of its worst floods in 2022 and 2024, affecting all 35 districts and around 90 lakh and 43 lakh people respectively.
Altogether 121 people died in the 2024 floods, besides widespread damage to infrastructure.

The BJP, which returned to power with allies AGP and BPF for a third straight term, had promised in its election manifesto to launch the “Badh Mukt Assam Mission” with an investment of over ₹18,000 crore to make Assam flood-free.