GoM meets consider erosion as natural calamity

GUWAHATI: A meeting of the Group of Ministers ( GOM) headed by Sharad Pawar, Union Minister, Agriculture to consider the inclusion of erosion as a natural calamity for financial assistance under National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) and State Disaster Response fund (SDRF) held today in New Delhi.

The GOM was formed at the initiative of Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. In the meeting Chief Minister Gogoi explained to the committee that in Assam there is loss of about 8000 hectares of land every year because of erosion by river Brahmaputra.

The loss of land due to erosion is a permanent one and the effected people lose their land property and they have nowhere to go once the flood water recedes. Thus giving full justification as to why erosion affected people should be eligible for Rehabilitation Grant under NDRF/SDRF. He also argued for taking up the erosion protection schemes with funds from NDRF/SDRF.

The committee after deliberation decided that loss of land due to erosion occurring after floods should be examined for change of the norms for compensation for loss of land during floods under NDRF/SDRF.

The meeting was also attended by Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, Union Minister, P. Ghatowar, and Union Minister, Water Resources, Harish Rawat.