Assam Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi on Friday paid tribute to volunteers, grassroots organisations and citizens who played a crucial role in supporting flood-affected communities during one of the state’s most severe flood disasters in recent years, saying their efforts ensured that relief, medicines and hope reached people stranded in inaccessible areas.
In a post on X, Gogoi recalled the widespread devastation caused by the floods, noting that homes were washed away, roads disappeared and entire villages were cut off. He said many young volunteers, despite having no prior experience in disaster management, came forward to coordinate relief operations, while grassroots organisations became the driving force behind assistance efforts. He also expressed gratitude to people across Assam who contributed money, labour and other forms of support to help affected families.
His remarks came as the Assam government announced a series of relief measures for flood-hit districts. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said a six-month moratorium on the repayment of all categories of loans would be provided to eligible borrowers in Sivasagar, Charaideo, Jorhat and Golaghat districts. The decision was taken during a special meeting of the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC), attended by representatives of the Reserve Bank of India, NABARD, the State Bank of India and other commercial banks.
Sarma said banks would verify the condition of borrowers before extending the moratorium and urged those who had not been affected by the floods to continue paying their equated monthly instalments. He added that financial institutions would be permitted to extend loan tenures by up to seven years, depending on the type of loan. Small retail shop owners whose businesses were damaged in the floods will also receive an additional ₹10,000 credit in their existing loan accounts without the requirement of fresh collateral or mortgage.
The Chief Minister further announced a one-time financial grant of ₹1.5 lakh for each Namghar in the flood-affected districts of Sivasagar and Charaideo to support reconstruction work.
Meanwhile, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) reported that the flood-related death toll had risen to 80 after two people, including a boy, drowned in Sivasagar district during the past 24 hours. According to the latest bulletin, more than 2.12 lakh people remain affected across Charaideo, Golaghat, Jorhat and Sivasagar districts. Charaideo continues to be the worst-affected district, followed by Sivasagar and Jorhat, although the overall flood situation has improved compared with the previous day, when over three lakh people were affected.
Authorities are currently operating 112 relief camps and relief distribution centres, providing shelter to more than 75,500 displaced people.
Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya conducted an aerial survey of flood-hit areas in Sivasagar, Charaideo and Jorhat before visiting relief camps to assess the availability of food, drinking water, healthcare and sanitation facilities. During his interaction with displaced families, he assured them of the government’s continued commitment to relief operations and the early restoration of normal life.
Sarma also said the state had sought a dedicated financial package from the Centre following the assessment carried out by an Inter-Ministerial Central Team. Assam has requested that the Upper Assam floods be recognised as an “atypical, high-intensity, rapid-onset event” to enable greater flexibility in damage assessment and assistance norms. According to the Chief Minister, the proposed package would support relief, housing reconstruction, infrastructure repair and livelihood restoration in Sivasagar, Charaideo, Jorhat and Golaghat districts. He added that nearly 13,000 households were still without electricity almost two weeks after the floods, with restoration work continuing based on ground conditions.
