Noisy scenes in Assam House over flood; toll 80

Guwahati, July 26 (IANS) With the flood-related toll in Assam reaching 80, the first day of the monsoon session of the Assam assembly witnessed noisy scenes on Friday with the Opposition staging a walkout protesting the government's failure to handle the issue.

With the death of five more persons in the last 24 hours, the death toll of in the Assam flood rose to 80, Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said on Friday, adding more than 27 lakh people in 2,078 villages remained affected by floods.

In the Assembly, Congress and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) demanded a discussion on the flood situation immediately after the session began.

Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami, however, rejected the demand, saying the issue would be discussed after the question-answer session.

The Opposition members, however, protested by showing placards leading to a ruckus following which Opposition leaders staged the walk out.

Later, both the ruling and Opposition legislators met in the House to discuss the flood and erosion issues. Brindaban Goswami of the AGP urged that the House adopt a resolution so that the Centre can be approached for declaring flood and erosion problem of Assam as a national calamity. AIUDF's Aminul Islam echoed similar sentiments.

"Flood and erosion problems in Assam are not taken seriously by the Central government," Islam said.

Over 2,000 villages are battling flood waters in Dhemaji, Darrang, Baksa, Barpeta, Nalbari, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Goalpara, Kamrup, Kamrup (M), Morigaon, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat and Cachar.