Sushanta Talukdar
| Code of conduct debars it from initiating steps |
“The dry spell will not affect the performance of the party”
The government has enacted laws to curb blasting of hills in the city
Guwahati: The Assam government has decided to move the Election Commission to allow it to initiate relief measures for farmers affected by the long dry spell.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told journalists here that the government would seek relaxation from the Commission as the model code of conduct debarred it from initiating such measures.
The dry spell has led to the drying up of ground water sources and consequent shortage of drinking water. It has also affected the farmers as there is shortage of water for cultivation, Mr.Gogoi said.
The government has sought reports from the Deputy Commissioners about damage to the crop due to the dry spell. He also said that weather predictions by the Meteorological Centre were not encouraging.
The Chief Minister, however, felt that dry spell would not have any impact on performance of his party in the Lok Sabha or the turnout of voters. The people were intelligent enough to know that it was a natural calamity and hence they would not link it to the polls, he said.
Mr. Gogoi attributed the dry spell to deforestation and global climate change. He admitted that unabated blasting of hills and felling of trees had compounded the problem in the city. The government had enacted laws to curb blasting of hills in the city, he said.
Severe dust storms had disrupted flight schedules and led to cancellation of some of them at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi International Airport here for the past three days.
