Assam flood situation worsens; 13 lakh affected, toll at 44

Guwahati :  The flood situation in Assam worsened further on Sunday with two more persons losing their lives in the deluge in Nagaon district, taking the death toll to 44 in the state, while the situation deteriorated across 24 of the 33 districts, Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) officials said.

The flood waters have submerged 2,015 villages affecting 13 lakh people and 82,546 hectares of crop area across the state.

The district administrations have set up 224 relief camps and distribution centres in 16 districts, where 21,071 people have taken shelter, the ASDMA officials said.

Besides several other rivers, the mighty Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger mark in Dibrugarh, Neamatighat in Jorhat, Tezpur in Sonitpur and Dhubri town, an ASDMA bulletin said.

The ASDMA officials said that in the current wave of floods over the past four weeks, at least 27 persons have died in Morigaon, Tinsukia, Dhubri, Nagaon, Nalbari, Barpeta, Dhemaji, Udalguri, Goalpara and Dibrugarh districts, taking the state's death toll to 44, while 26 people have been killed in separate landslides since May 22.

Though the 24 of the state's 33 districts are affected by the floods, the worst affected 16 districts are Dhemaji, Udalguri, Biswanath, Lakhimpur, Chirang, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Goalpara, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat, Majuli, Dibrugarh,West 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 around 810 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.

The National Disaster Response Force, Assam 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 wof the region were inundated on Sunday even as the Meteorological Department forecast more downpours in the next couple of days.