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Guwahati, August 1 - The Assam government announced on Saturday that residents of the severely flood-affected districts of Sivasagar and Charaideo will receive a waiver on land taxes for one year. These areas have been hit hard by the recent floods, which have resulted in the loss of 82 lives across the state.

During a Facebook Live session, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma revealed that this tax exemption will take effect from April 1. He also mentioned that households consuming less than 300 units of electricity in these districts will have their electricity bills for July waived. Furthermore, a meeting was held with representatives from insurance companies, where the government urged them to expedite and facilitate the settlement of insurance claims for residents of the flood-affected districts of Sivasagar, Charaideo, Jorhat, and Golaghat.

Sarma noted that insurance companies have committed to issuing simplified forms and reducing the number of required documents to ease the claims process for residents in these four districts. He added that the central government has already instructed these companies to prioritize the swift settlement of claims in flood-affected areas. For life insurance claims, companies will accept the official list of deceased individuals without requiring death certificates.

He also mentioned that video surveys of damaged homes and businesses will be conducted where necessary. Sharing details about families eligible for interim assistance of ₹15,000 from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund (CMRF) for home repairs, Sarma stated that approximately 55,000 families in Sivasagar, 20,000 in Charaideo, 7,000 in Jorhat, and 3,000 in Golaghat will benefit from this aid, which will be distributed between August 3 and 5. He added, “There may be families who are still unable to make their homes habitable.”

For those families, an additional assistance of ₹10,000 will be provided on August 10.” The Chief Minister also announced a financial aid of ₹2 to ₹2.5 lakh from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund for the repair of damaged Anganwadi centers.