Guwahati, Aug 12: As immediate relief and financial assistance reach flood-hit families, the Assam government is drawing up a long-term rehabilitation and recovery plan for some of the worst-affected areas of Upper Assam.Addressing the press at Lok Sewa Bhawan on Wednesday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the government is moving beyond emergency relief to rebuild communities devastated by the recent deluge, with a focus on sustainable rehabilitation and recovery. “There are areas such as Nepali Khuti, Kamalbasti and Bamunpukhuri where there has been 100% damage to houses. There is practically nothing left in terms of housing in those places. We are not only concentrating on short-term relief and rehabilitation, but also on long-term measures that can help these people recover and rebuild,” Sarma said. He said the state government, in consultation with the Centre and various social organisations, is exploring a model housing scheme for severely affected localities, over and above the financial assistance already being provided to affected families. “However, this can only be done once the affected families are able to return from relief shelters to their villages,” he added. The Chief Minister said the government was also working on long-term livelihood restoration, particularly for families that suffered extensive livestock losses during the floods. “We are in discussion with the National Dairy Development Board to see whether we can provide cows to affected families and develop milk processing centres in these areas. We are engaged in creating a long-term relief and rehabilitation system,” he said. Sarma also said discussions were under way on a permanent solution to erosion and recurrent flooding along the Dikhow river belt, one of the areas badly affected by the recent floods. A day earlier, Water Resources Minister Susanta Borgohain told The Assam Tribune that an embankment would soon be constructed to prevent the havoc caused by the Dikhow river. Borgohain said the project had been sanctioned last year but could not be completed because local residents were unwilling to part with land required for its construction. Relief fund to support reconstruction Highlighting public support for relief efforts, Sarma said the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund would be used to reconstruct housing colonies in affected areas. “There has been unprecedented contribution to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, with micro-donations from around 26,000 people. So far, Rs 142 crore has been deposited. We will utilise these funds for developing model housing colonies,” he said. The proposed housing initiative, he said, would complement the financial assistance already being extended to flood-affected families. Government seeks national solution to flood crisis On the broader challenge of tackling Assam’s recurring flood crisis, Sarma said the government had documented extensive visual evidence of the devastation to strengthen its case before the Centre for a comprehensive national-level intervention. “This can be taken forward when national institutions such as IIT Roorkee and others provide their feedback. We have money, but what we need is a solution. We will work on this after August 15,” he said. Sarma’s remarks come amid renewed calls for a long-term strategy to address Assam’s annual flood crisis. Earlier, he had argued that the focus should be on finding a “national solution” rather than merely seeking a “national problem” tag for floods, maintaining that durable scientific and engineering interventions involving premier institutions would be more beneficial than symbolic classifications.