Assam flood situation grim, close to 3 lakh remain affected

Guwahati: The flood situation continued to deteriorate in Assam with close to three lakh persons affected by the floods in districts like Lakhimpur, Golaghat, Morigaon, Jorhat, Dhemaji, Sivsagar, Kokrajhar, Barpeta, Bongaigaon and Chirang.

Army troops carried out rescue operation in parts of Chirang districts, where the floods have inundated several villages, and evacuated at least 30 persons.

Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) officials said that 2,90,880 people in 446 villages have remained affected by floods till Friday evening and the floods have inundated 24,394.37 hectares of cropland across the affected districts.

A total of 12,428 people have taken shelter in 27 relief camps in some of the flood hit districts, they added.

The surging waters of Brahmaputra river and its tributaries have damaged roads and embankments at many places, snapping communication to some of the remote areas of the districts.

While the flood waters have damaged seven roads in Sivsagar, embankments have been breached in Kokrajhar and Bongaon.

Defence spokesman Lt. Col. Suneet Newton said that the Indian Army moved swiftly on its rescue mission in Chirang amidst a heavy deluge and pouring waters of overflowing rivers.

"Based on a call for help from the local people, the army launched four teams on Friday in the Khungring area of Chirang district and rescued at least 30 people, who were helplessly trapped in their marooned village amidst fast currents," he said adding that the army deployed boats to reach the marooned people and made a number of trips against the swift current to save them.

He said that the Army Flood Control Centre at Tezpur is functioning round the clock to monitor the flood situation and coordinate relief and rescue efforts wherever required. "All units under the area of responsibility of the Gajraj Corps in Tezpur are fully alert and geared up to react swiftly to any flood related contingency," he added.