Assam flood: One more dies, nearly 20 lakh people in 21 districts affected

The flood situation in Assam improved further on Tuesday with waters receding from one more district even though another person died and nearly 20 lakh people remained affected by the deluge, according to an official bulletin.

One person died at Bokakhat in Golaghat district, taking the toll in this year's flood and landslides to 130. While 104 people died in flood-related incidents, 26 were killed in landslides, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said in its bulletin.

Flood waters have receded from one more district and the number of people affected by the deluge has decreased by over 2.52 lakh since Monday.

Over 19.82 lakh people in 21 of the state's 33 districts are still affected by the deluge, according to the bulletin.

Goalpara continues to be the worst-hit district with over 4.45 lakh people being affected by the flood, while 3.07 lakh and 2.7 lakh people have been submerged in Barpeta and Morigaon districts respectively.

ASDMA said that 1,771 villages and over 1.04 lakh hectare of cropland are under water in the state.

The district administrations are operating 398 relief camps and distribution centres in 16 districts, where 42,275 people have taken shelter.

The Brahmaputra river is flowing above the danger level in Dhubri, Goalpara, Jorhat and Sonitpur districts. Its tributaries Dhansiri, Jia Bharali and Kopili are also flowing above the red mark at various places.

ASDMA said that the flood has claimed the lives of 137 animals in Kaziranga National Park.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday visited the erosion-hit areas of Biswanath and Lakhimpur districts and reviewed preventive measures being undertaken by the water resources department.

Sonowal said although erosion was a major problem in Assam, it was not considered as a natural calamity in government relief manual.

However, the 15th Finance Commission included erosion as a natural calamity, the chief minister said, adding that the state government had made a representation to the Commission for it.

Embankments, roads and many other infrastructure have been damaged at various places in Chirag, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Jorhat, Majuli, Goalpara and Golaghat districts.

The 21 flood-affected districts are Dhemaji, Biswanath, Darrang, Baksa, Nalbari, Barpeta, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, South Salmara, Goalpara, Kamrup, Kamrup Metropolitan, Morigaon, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat, Majuli, Sivasagar and Dibrugarh.