Over 22 lakh in Assam hit by floods, death toll now 76

Guwahati: The flood situation in Assam worsened drastically on Monday, with six more people losing their lives in the deluge, which has affected nearly 22 lakh people across 27 districts, an official bulletin said.

According to the daily flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), one person each died in Nowboicha of Lakhimpur, Bajali of Barpeta, Manikpur of Bongaigaon, Rangia of Kamrup, Bokakhat of Golaghat and Sivasagar town of Sivasagar districts.

With these, the total number of people killed in flooding and landslides in the state this year has gone up to 76. While 50 people were killed in inundation, 26 died due to landslides.

The ASDMA said more than 12.63 lakh people have been affected by floods in Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Sonitpur, Udalguri, Darrang, Baksa, Nalbari, Barpeta, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, South Salmara, Goalpara, Kamrup, Kamrup Metropolitan, Morigaon, Nagaon, West Karbi Anglong, Golaghat, Jorhat, Majuli, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and Karbi Anglong districts.

Barpeta is the worst-hit district with over 5.44 lakh people affected, followed by 1.92 lakh in South Salmara and 1.30 lakh in Dhemaji.

NDRF, SDRF, district administrations and local people have rescued 19,548 people during the last 24 hours by deploying 98 boats across the state.

Till Sunday, more than 12.97 lakh people had been affected by the deluge across 24 districts.

At present, 2,763 villages are underwater and 1,03,806.15 hectares of crop area has been damaged across Assam, the ASDMA said.

It further said authorities are running 480 relief camps and distribution centres across 20 districts, where 60,696 people are currently taking shelter.

The authorities have distributed a total of 7,774.75 quintals of rice, dal and salt, and 10,925.69 litres of mustard oil along with other relief materials such as tarpaulin, baby food, candles, matchboxes, mosquito nets, biscuits, soaps, drinking water, cattle feed, masks and wheat bran.

The Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger mark in Guwahati, Dhubri and Goalpara cities, besides at Nimatighat in Jorhat district and Tezpur in Sonitpur district.

Its tributaries such as Subansiri at Badatighat in Lakhimpur, Burhidihing at Chenimari in Dibrugarh, Dhansiri at Numaligarh in Golaghat, Jia Bharali at NT Road Crossing in Sonitpur, Kopili at Kampur and Dharamtul in Nagaon, Puthimari at NH Road Crossing at Kamrup and Pagladiya at NT Road Crossing in Nalbari are flowing above the danger mark.

Some other tributaries such as Manas at NH Road Crossing in Barpeta, Beki at Road Bridge in Barpeta, Katakhal at Matizuri in Hailakandi, Kushiyara at Karimganj town and Sankosh at Golokganj in Dhubri are also flowing above the danger levels.

Embankments, roads, bridges, culverts and other infrastructure has been damaged at various places in Biswanath, Barpeta, Darrang, Golaghat, Jorhat, Kamrup, Majuli, Baksa, Dhemaji, Morigaon, Chirang, Nalbari, Goalpara, Udalguri, Nagaon, Dima Hasao, Karimganj, Sivasagar, Dhubri, Tinsukia and Lakhimpur districts.

Massive erosions have been witnessed at different places in Majuli, Udalguri, Nalbari and Chirang districts, ASDMA said.

According to the bulletin, a total of 173 camps out of 223 at Kaziranga National Park and 24 out of 40 at Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park have been affected by the floods.

The deluge has so far claimed the lives of 47 animals, while 70 others were rescued in Kaziranga National Park, where almost 95 per cent area has been submerged, the bulletin said quoting the DFO of the Eastern Assam Wildlife Division.

The floods have also affected 17,81,920 domestic animals and poultry across the state during the last 24 hours, it said.