Flood situation in Assam worsens; one dead, 718,000 affected

The flood situation in Assam deteriorated on Thursday with one more person losing his life and nearly 7.18 lakh people in 27 districts remaining affected by the deluge, an official bulletin said.

According to the daily flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), one person drowned in Kampur revenue circle of Nagaon district.

Besides, two more persons are reported to be missing at Kampur, it said.

With this, the total number of people losing their lives in this year's flood and landslides has gone up to 10 across the state.

ASDMA said that more than 7,17,500 people are hit due to floods in Bajali, Baksa, Barpeta, Biswanath, Bongaigaon, Cachar, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Dima Hasao, Goalpara, Hailakandi, Hojai, Kamrup, Kamrup Metropolitan, Karbi Anglong West, Karimganj, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Morigaon, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sonitpur and Udalguri districts.

Nagaon is the worst hit with over 3.31 lakh people suffering, followed by Cachar (1.6 lakh) and Hojai (97,300).

Till Wednesday, over 6.62 lakh people were affected in the deluge in 27 districts in the state.

At present, 1,790 villages have been inundated and 63,970.62 hectares of crop areas damaged across Assam, ASDMA said.

It further said authorities are running 359 relief camps and distribution centres in 14 districts, where 80,298 people, including 12,855 children, are taking shelter.

The bulletin stated the Army, paramilitary forces, NDRF, SDRF, civil administration, trained volunteers, Fire and Emergency Services and local people have evacuated 7,334 people from various flood-hit areas using boats and helicopters.

The authorities have distributed 7,077.56 quintals of rice, dal and salt, 6,020.90 litres of mustard oil, 2,218.28 quintals of cattle feed and other flood relief items.

Air Force helicopter services continued in Dima Hasao, which is completely cut off from the rest of the country, for emergency airlift of stranded passengers and supply of essential food grains, officials said.

"A team of 20 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel with all necessary equipment have been air transported today from Guwahati to Haflong, Dima Hasao for further search and rescue operation of the stranded people," ASDMA said in a statement.

Massive erosions have been witnessed in Bajali, Baksa, Barpeta, Biswanath, Bongaigaon, Charaideo, Dhubri, Goalpara, Kamrup, Kamrup Metropolitan, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Nalbari, Sivasagar, Sonitpur, South Salmara, Tamulpur, Tinsukia and Udalguri districts.

More landslides have taken place in the already devastated Dima Hasao district, causing more hurdles in the efforts to restore normalcy in the hill district.

Embankments, roads, bridges and other infrastructure have been damaged by flood waters in Morigaon, Udalguri, Darrang, Karbi Anglong West, Biswanath, Barpeta, Cachar, Dhemaji, Goalpara, Hailakandi, Nagaon, Lakhimpur, Nalbari, Sonitpur, Bajali, Dibrugarh, Hojai, Kamrup, Kokrajhar and Majuli, ASDMA said.

A total of 3,13,712 domestic animals and poultry have been affected in the deluge across 13 districts, it added.

The mighty Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger mark at Nimatighat, while its tributaries Kopili at Dharamtul and Kampur, and Disang at Nanglamuraghat are flowing above the danger levels, the bulletin stated.