Assam flood situation worsens, 3.4 lakh affected in 14 districts

PTI, Jul 10, 2020, 8:47 PM IST

Guwahati: The flood situation in Assam deteriorated on Friday as vast areas of two more districts were inundated, affecting 1.70 lakh more people, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said in a report.

It said 3,41,837 people of 32 revenue circles of 14 districts are now affected by the deluge.

The two new districts where floodwaters entered since Thursday are Udalgiri and Dibrugarh. This flood and landslides have claimed 64 people’s lives so far across the state with 40 having been killed in incidents related to the deluge and 24 dying in landslides.

Meanwhile, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) predicted more rainfall in various places across Assam and neighbouring Meghalaya. RMC Deputy Director Sanjay O’neil Shaw said that very heavy rainfall at some places and extremely heavy falls at isolated places are expected on Saturday.

The ASDMA said Dhemaji continued to be the worst-hit district with around 1.3 lakh affected people, followed by Lakhimpur with 75,000 people and Barpeta with 63,000 people.

At present, 724 villages in the affected 14 districts are underwater and 46,797.09 hectares of crop area has been damaged, it said.

The ASDMA said the authorities were running 41 relief camps and distribution centres in six districts, where 2,386 people have taken shelter.

The Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger level at Nimatighat in Jorhat, Tezpur in Sonitpur and Dhubri town in Dhubri districts.

Its tributaries Disang at Nanglamuraghat in Sivasagar, Dhansiri at Numaligarh in Golaghat, Jia Bharali at NT Road Crossing in Sonitpur and Beki at Road Bridge in Barpeta are flowing above the danger mark.

Embankments, roads, bridges, culverts and other infrastructure have been damaged at various places in Lakhimpur, Biswanath and Dhemaji districts.

Massive erosions have been witnessed at different places of Bongaigaon, Biswanath, Sonitpur, Udalguri, Kokrajhar and South Salmara districts, the ASDMA said.

The deluge has so far claimed the lives of 48 animals of different species at the Kaziranga National Park, the bulletin said, quoting the DFO of Eastern Assam Wildlife Division.

The flood has also affected 2,36,074 domestic animals and poultry across the state during the last 24 hours, it added.

The flood-affected districts are Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Charaideo, Biswanath, Udalguri, Chirang, Nalbari, Barpeta, Goalpara, Morigaon, Nagaon, Golaghat, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia.