CPI wants all-party meeting

GUWAHATI, July 9: CPI central politburo member Pramod Gogoi has said that an all-party meeting should be called to discuss the flood problem of the State.

In a press meet today, Gogoi said every year floods create havoc in the State. There has to be an immediate but lasting solution to this problem. For this, political parties have to rise above their political interests and unite. He has requested the State Government to call an all-party meeting to discuss about the flood problem.

Gogoi also expressed regret at the fact that Asom and the Northeast had been neglected in the Union Budget 2009-10. " The flood victims of Asom find no mention in the Union Budget. Despite several demands, the Centre has not declared floods in Asom as a national problem," said Gogoi.

Gogoi said that the Deva Gowda government had taken a serious view of the havoc that the Brahmaputra created every year and had introduced the Brahmaputra Flood Control Act. But successive governments had failed to implement this Act, said Gogoi.

Gogoi has also demanded a high-level inquiry into the breach in the Matmora embankment that resulted in the washing away of thousands of villages recently. He also said that the responsibility of construction of river embankments should be given to local and not foreign companies as there were ignorant of ground realities SOURCE: THE SENTINEL