Assam flood worsens: Death toll reaches 39, over 15 lakh people hit

Pic Courtesy: ANI

Guwahati: The flood situation deteriorated further in Assam on Tuesday with six more persons losing their lives and over 15 lakh people across 23 districts affected by the deluge.

With this, the toll in this year's flood-related cases has gone up to 39, including eight in Guwahati, a Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) report said.

The six persons were killed in various flood related incidents in Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Barpeta and Kamrup Metropolitan districts, it said.

In Jorhat, two persons were killed in the last 24 hours by flood waters and at Chabua in Dibrugarh, one went missing in the Dibru river, the ASDMA said.

In Sivasagar district, one person died at the Dimow revenue circle and at Baghbar in Barpeta, another person died due to flood waters, it said, adding that Joydeep Deb died from electrocution in Kamrup Metropolitan, which mainly comprises the state capital.

The ASDMA said that more than 15.18 lakh people are affected by the floods at Lakhimpur, Bongaigaon, Darrang, Jorhat, Golaghat, Cachar, Dhemaji, Biswanath, Karimganj, Sonitpur, Majuli, Barpeta, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sivasagar, Morigaon, Chirang, Dibrugarh, Dhubri, Kokrajhar, South Salmara, Charaideo and Goalpara districts.

Till yesterday, 12.55 lakh people were affected across 20 districts of the state.

As the flood situation remained critical, Assam Governor Banwarilal Purohit today visited the affected Nagaon district and spent time with people at relief camps, an official release said.

He took stock of the relief materials being provided at the camp and directed the district administration to make adequate arrangement for clean drinking water, medicines, sanitation and baby food.

At the Kaziranga National Park, 129 anti-poaching cap area or 73 per cent of the forest is under water, leaving some animals dead and forcing some to move to nearby higher lands.

According to the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC), nine hog deer were rescued from the Park today, out of which three were released back into the wild.

"Two seriously injured deer died during treatment and one is under care at CWRC. Three were found dead on arrival of the rescue team," it said in a statement.
Some animals were killed by speeding vehicles on the National Highway 37, which passes through the Park.

The ASDMA said that 2,498 villages are under water at present and more than 1.4 lakh hectares of crop areas have been damaged.

The worst affected is Lakhimpur, where over 3.09 lakh people have been affected by the deluge, followed by more than 2.82 lakh people in South Salmara.

In Guwahati, waterlogging and landslide incidents have been reported.

Authorities are running 208 relief camps and distribution centres in 16 districts, where 48,483 people are currently taking shelter.

Across the state, 8,82,315 animals and poultry have been affected by the flood waters.

Currently, the Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger mark at Nimatighat in Jorhat, Tezpur in Sonitpur, along with Dibrugarh, Goalpara and Dhubri towns.

Other rivers flowing above the danger mark are the Burhidehing in Dibrugarh's Khowang, the Subansiri in Lakhimpur's Badatighat, the Dikhow at Sivasagar town, the Dhansiri in Golaghat's Numaligarh, the Jia Bharali in Sonitpur's NT Road Crossing, the Puthimari in Kamrup's NH Road Crossing, the Beki in Barpeta's Road Bridge, the Sankosh Golokganj in Dhubri and the Kushiyara at Karimganj town.