Assam flood situation worsens; 8 more dead, over 16 lakh hit

The flood situation in Assam continued to deteriorate with eight more people losing their lives and more than 16.25 lakh people reeling under the deluge across 27 districts on Wednesday, 4 July an official bulletin said.

Till Tuesday, 2 July more than 11.3 lakh people were suffering in flood waters across 23 districts of the state.

According to the daily flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), two persons died at Tezpur revenue circle of Sonitpur district, while one each drowned at Mayong of Morigaon, Naharkatia of Dibrugarh, Pub Mangaladi of Darrang, Dergaon of Golaghat, Halem of Biswanath and Margherita of Tinsukia.

With this, the total number of people losing their lives in this year's flood, landslide and storm has increased to 56.

Besides, three more persons are missing and feared to be washed away by flood waters in Sonitpur, Sivasagar and Golaghat districts.

The report said more than 16,25,000 people are hit due to the floods in Barpeta, Biswanath, Cachar, Charaideo, Chirang, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Goalpara, Golaghat, Hailakandi, Hojai, Jorhat, Kamrup, Kamrup Metropolitan, East Karbi Anglong, West Karbi Anglong, Karimganj, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Morigaon, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sivasagar, Sonitpur and Tinsukia districts.

Dhubri is the worst hit with over 2.23 lakh people suffering, followed by Darrang with nearly 1.84 lakh people and Lakhimpur with more than 1.66 lakh people reeling under flood waters, it added.

The administration has been operating 515 relief camps and relief distribution centres in 24 districts, where 3,86,950 people have taken shelter at present.

Nearly 8,400 people have been rescued by civil administration, SDRF, NDRF and Emergency Services personnel from various parts of the state, ASDMA said.

The authority has distributed 6,372.42 quintals of rice, 1,230.96 quintals of dal, 365.61 quintals of salt and 27,303.13 litres of mustard oil among the flood victims of the state during the last 24 hours.

At present, 2,800 villages are under water and 42,476.18 hectares of crop areas have been damaged across Assam, the ASDMA said.

Embankments, roads, bridges and other infrastructure have been damaged by flood waters in various districts.

At present, the mighty Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger marks at Nimatighat, Tezpur, Guwahati, Goalpara and Dhubri.

Its tributaries Subansiri at Badatighat, Burhidihing at Chenimari, Dikhou at Sivasagar, Disang at Nanglamuraghat, Dhansiri at Numaligarh, and Kopili at Kampur and Dharamtul are flowing above the danger levels.

The Barak river is flowing above the danger mark at AP Ghat, BP Ghat, Chotabakra and Fuletrak, while its tributaries Dhaleswari at Gharmura, Katakhal at Matizuri and Kushiyara at Karimganj town and are also flowing above the danger marks, ASDMA said.

On account of widespread flooding, over 11,20,100 domestic animals and poultry are affected across the state.