Flood situation in Assam not as bad as compared to last year, say reports

As the flood situation in Assam has marginally improved, the state government sources on Sunday said that the number of people affected this year is much lesser than that of last year.

According to the Assam government sources, last year around the state had over 100 lakh affected people while this year it is around 5 lakh

"Compared to last year instances of floods are much lesser in Majuli, Dhemaji, Morigaon and the rest of Upper Assam due to embankment and flood control measures. Last year this time Assam had over 100 Lakh affected people, this year it is around 5 lakh people," said Assam government sources.

The sources said that if everything goes well by the next two years Assam would witness minimal floods.

"This time floods are mainly in Lower Assam. If everything goes well, in the next year or two we could see minimal floods even in Lower Assam," the source said.

Last year in June, over 33.03 lakh people in 28 districts were affected due to the natural calamity in the state, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) informed.

According to ASDMA, a total of 117 people lost their lives in the flood and landslides in the state then; of which 100 people died in the flood alone, while the remaining 17 died due to landslides.

Meanwhile, this year, though the situation marginally improved in the state, nearly 4.01 lakh people in 15 districts are still affected due to the flood, as per Assam Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).

According to the flood reports of ASDMA, one more person died in Nalabri district after drowning in flood water in the past 24 hours taking the death toll to 3 so far.

"Nearly 2.22 lakh people have been affected alone in Bajali district, followed by 1.04 lakh people affected in Barpeta, 40668 people affected in Nalbari, 22060 people in Lakhimpur, 8493 people in Darrang, 4750 people in Goalpara district," stated ASDMA.

As many as, 1118 villages under 42 revenue circles in Bajali, Baksa, Barpeta, Chirang, Darrang, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Goalpara, Golaghat, Jorhat, Kamrup, Lakhimpur, Nagaon, Nalbari, Tamulpur districts have been affected by the deluge.

Taking note of the grim situation in Assam, Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and assured all possible assistance.

Amit Shah in his tweet said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government stands firm as it has been with the people of Assam in difficult times.

"Due to heavy rain, the people in parts of Assam are braving a flood-like situation. I have spoken to CM Shri @himantabiswa Ji and assured all possible assistance. NDRF teams are already on the ground conducting relief and rescue operations and adequate forces are on standby. The Modi government stands firm as it has always been with the people of Assam in these difficult times," tweeted Shah.

Reacting to it, CM Sarma expressed gratitude for the Home Minister's proactive response and concerns regarding the flood situation in Assam.

"Gratitude Hon'ble Home Minister for your proactive response & concern regarding the flood situation in Assam. The Assam Government is on high alert and providing all assistance to the affected persons. We are grateful to Hon PM Shri @narendramodi Ji for all the help to the state from the Government of India," Tweeted the CM.

Following the torrential rain, the water level of the Brahmaputra River is flowing above the danger level mark at Neamatighat in Jorhat district and at Tezpur in Sonitpur district.

In the flood-hit districts, 8469.56 hectares of cropland have been submerged by floodwaters.

The district administration has set up 101 relief camps and 119 relief distribution centres in 14 flood-hit districts, and 81352 people have taken shelter in these relief camps.

On the other hand, many others are still taking shelter on roads, highlands, and embankments.

On the other hand, in the last 24 hours, the flood waters breached 4 embankments and damaged 15 other embankments, 157 roads, 1 bridge, several Agri bundhs, Anganwadi centres school buildings, irrigation canals, and culverts.