24 lakh affected, 24 dead as Assam flood worsens

With six more deaths in Assam yesterday, the death toll in the ongoing floods has risen to 50 while the situation was deteriorating in 27 of the state's 33 districts affecting around 24 lakh people, officials said.

Officials of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said that the flood situation worsened further yesterday with six people in six districts losing their lives.

The officials said that in the current wave of floods over the past four weeks, deaths have been reported from Lakhimpur, Bongaigaon, Kamrup, Golaghat, Sivasagar, Morigaon, Tinsukia, Dhubri, Nagaon, Nalbari, Barpeta, Dhemaji, Udalguri, Goalpara, and Dibrugarh districts, while 26 people have been killed in separate landslides since May 22.

They said that two more persons drowned on Monday in Dhubri and Morigaon districts but these deaths were not related to floods.

Floodwaters have inundated 2,763 villages affecting around 24 lakh people and 103,806 hectares of crop area in 27 districts. The ASDMA officials said that the district administrations have set up 480 relief camps and distribution centers in 20 districts, where around 61,000 people have taken shelter.

Besides several other rivers, the mighty Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger mark in several districts, an ASDMA bulletin said.

Though the 27 districts are affected by the floods, the worst affected 20 districts are Dhemaji, Udalguri, Biswanath, Sonitpur, Baksa, Lakhimpur, Chirang, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Goalpara, Kamrup, Golaghat, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Majuli, Dibrugarh, West Karbi Anglong, Karbi Anglong and Tinsukia.

Embankments, roads, bridges, culverts and other infrastructure have been damaged at various places in 18 districts, the ASDMA officials said adding that several hundred houses were fully or partially damaged due to the floods.

In all, at least 8.03 lakh domestic animals and over 4.24 lakh poultry were affected due to the current wave of floods. In the famous Kaziranga national park, 47 animals were killed due to the flood while 70 animals were rescued as 95 per cent areas are submerged by the floodwaters.

The National Disaster Response Force, and State Disaster Response Force personnel, along with the local administration, are continuously working to rescue the affected people and render relief services, including distribution of relief material to the marooned villagers.

Meanwhile, with several rivers in many northeastern states are in spate due to constant monsoon rain, huge low-lying areas in the other states of the region were inundated on Sunday even as the Meteorological Department forecast more showers in the next couple of days..