Assam flood: Over 54.5 lakh people hit, death toll rises to 101; rescue operation underway

Assam floods: A total 2,32,002 people have been affected by the flood in 565 villages in Cachar district, 2,81,271 in 469 villages of Karimganj and over 51,000 in 98 villages in Hailakandi.

Guwahati: The flood situation in Assam remained grim on Thursday with over 54.5 lakh people still affected and 12 fresh deaths reported, officials said. The toll due to the flood since mid-May is now 101, they said. Brahmaputra and Barak rivers along with its tributaries are in spate in most of the affected districts and vast tracts of land remained inundated in 32 of the total 36 districts in the state. The flood waters, however, receded in a few places. Altogether 3658 persons were evacuated with the help of 276 boats across the state by NDRF, SDRF and other agencies during the day, according to the bulletin.

Over 14,500 marooned people have been rescued by the NDRF in 12 flood-affected districts of Assam, an official said.

The 1st Battalion Disaster Response Force of NDRF swung into rescue operations in the affected districts and deployed more than 70 boats and 400 men in the heavily flooded districts, its assistant commandant Santosh Kumar Singh told PTI.

An additional eight teams from other battalions with 207 personnel were airlifted to Silchar since Tuesday, he said.

The rescue operations are being conducted by NDRF in Kamrup, Kamrup Rural, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Bajali, Hojai, Nalbari, Darang, Tamulpur, Nagaon, Udalguri, and Cachar, Singh said.

The force is also engaged in assisting the district administrations in distributing relief materials to the affected people, he said.

According to the Central Water Commission (CWC) bulletin Kopili river is flowing above the danger level at Kampur in Nagaon district, Disang river in Sivasagar, Brahmaputra at Nimatighat, Tezpur, Goalpara and Dhubri, Barak river at Karimganj, Cachar and Hailakandi district and Kushiara at Karimganj.

The Barak Valley districts - Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj were severely hit by the rising water of Barak and Kushiara rivers. Silchar town is submerged for the last four days due to a breach in an embankment.

A total 2,32,002 people have been affected by the flood in 565 villages in Cachar district, 2,81,271 in 469 villages of Karimganj and over 51,000 in 98 villages in Hailakandi.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is scheduled to visit Silchar on Thursday to review the flood situation in the Valley. A total population 54,57,601 were affected in 32 districts of the state.

The worst affected districts are Barpeta where 11,29,390 are affected, followed by Kamrup with 7,89,496, Dhubri with 5,97,153 and Nagaon with 5,03,450 people in the flood, according to a bulletin of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) on Thursday.

Urban flooding was reported from Cachar, Darrang, Goalpara, Karimganj and Morigaon.

The devastating floods caused by incessant rainfall has affected 112 revenue circles and 4941 villages forcing 2,71,125 people to take shelter in 845 relief camps, it said.

Relief materials were distributed from 1026 delivery points among the flood hit who have not taken shelter in the relief camps.

Landslides were reported from Bethany village in Dima Hasao district and 19 houses were damaged at various locations at Barthal in Karimganj, according to the ASDMA bulletin. The flood has damaged 218 roads and 20 bridges, besides breaching two embankments in Kamrup district. A crop area of 99,026 hectares and 33,17,086 animals have been affected. Large scale erosion was also reported from Baksa, Biswanath, Bongaigaon, Chirang, Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Morigaon, Nalbari and Udalguri, the ASDMA said.