Lepa Rada district was badly hit by a cloudburst on 17 September, causing large-scale destruction and the death of two people.
The cloudburst destroyed the roads, electricity supply and completely washed away a settlement and commercial hub near Ego village. Even though a month has passed, it is alleged that road, electricity and water supply are yet to be restored in many areas.
The situation is so bad that Basar MLA Gokar Basar on Tuesday alleged that the Lepa Rada district administration has not received enough support from the state government to restore normalcy.
This is really unfortunate. Such a major disaster has hit one of the districts of the state, but a state or central team is yet to visit the area to assess the damage.
Compare this to what is happening in Telangana, which is hit hard by the incessant rains that lashed several parts of the state. A five-member inter-ministerial team, led by Joint Secretary in the Union Home Ministry, Praveen Vasishta will visit Telangana for three days from Thursday for on-the-spot assessment of damages in the rain-ravaged state. The Centre also announced Rs 4 lakh ex-gratia to the kin of each who died due to rains and related incidents in the state.
The Government of India never exhibits such promptness when natural disasters hit North East India.
Why has the Centre not sent a team to Lepa Rada district till now for on-the-spot assessment of damages? Such discrimination does not auger well.
The state government also should be doing more to help the people of Lepa Rada at this time of difficulty.