One more person dies in Assam floods, over 24 lakh people hit

The flood situation in Assam remained critical with one more person losing his life in the deluge, in which over 24 lakh people were affected in 24 districts of the state, an official bulletin said on Monday.

According to the daily flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), one person died at Sonapur near Guwahati in Kamrup Metropolitan district.

The total number of people losing their lives in this year's flood and landslide has gone up to 111 across the state, of whom 85 people were killed in flood-related incidents and 26 died due to landslides.

The ASDMA said over 24.3 lakh people are hit due to floods in Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Darrang, Baksa, Nalbari, Barpeta, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, South Salmara, Goalpara, Kamrup, Kamrup Metropolitan, Morigaon, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat, Majuli, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and Cachar districts.

Goalpara is the worst hit with over 4.59 lakh people suffering, followed by Barpeta with more than 3.37 lakh people and Morigaon with around 3.35 lakh people.

The State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), district administrations and local people have rescued 291 people during the last 24 hours by deploying 125 boats across the state, it said.

Till Sunday, more than 25.29 lakh people were affected due to the deluge in 24 districts.

The Regional Meteorological Centre has forecast rainfall at most places of Assam and Meghalaya on Tuesday with heavy to very heavy downpour along with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places.

Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal visited the Gohinpara area affected by flood of the Pahumara river in Barpeta district and took stock of the damages there along with flood ravaged Doul Gosain Than (place of worship) and Bamkhata-Kenduguri road.

He directed the Water Resources minister to find a permanent solution of the perennial flood and erosion in the area after carrying out a scientific study of the Pahumara river, an official release said.

"He also asked the departments of agriculture, DRDA (District Rural Development Agency) and soil conservation to erect agricultural embankments after consultation with the Water Resource Department," it added.

Later talking to reporters, Sonowal said that flood and erosion have been causing devastations every year in the state as nearly 9,000 hectares of lands are claimed by erosion every year.

He told reporters that the central government will take up the flood issue with neighbouring Bhutan, from where floodwaters come down every year to cause havoc in the state.

The chief minister said that the deputy commissioners of all districts have been directed to ensure availability of relief material, medical facilities and cattle fodders for the flood affected people.

He denied the accusations made by opposition parties that flood affected people have not received any relief material as "completely baseless".

Later, Sonowal visited the flood relief camp set up at Dakshin Barpeta Bidya Mandir High School at Barpeta town and interacted with the inmates there about the facilities provided to them.

At present, 2,254 villages are under water and 1,09,600.53 hectares of crop areas have been damaged across Assam, the ASDMA said.

It further said authorities are running 468 relief camps and distribution centres across 18 districts, where 48,197 people are taking shelter currently.

The authorities have distributed a total of 6,111.99 quintals of rice, dal and salt, and 21,362.44 litres of mustard oil along with other relief material such as tarpaulin, candle, matchbox, mosquito net, biscuit, soap, drinking water, cattle feed, mask and wheat bran.

The Brahmaputra river is flowing above the danger mark at Dibrugarh, Dhubri and Goalpara cities, besides at Nimatighat in Jorhat and Tezpur in Sonitpur districts.

Its tributaries Dhansiri at Numaligarh in Golaghat, Jia Bharali at NT Road Crossing in Sonitpur, Kopili at Dharamtul in Nagaon, Beki at Road Bridge in Barpeta and Kushiyara at Karimganj town are also flowing above the danger-level.

Embankments, roads, bridges, culverts and many other infrastructures have been damaged at various places in Udalguri, Bongaigaon, Goalpara, Kokrajhar and Dibrugarh districts.

Massive erosion have been witnessed at different places of Majuli, Baksa, Sonitpur and Udalguri districts, ASDMA said.

Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Agriculture Minister Atul Bora visited the flood-ravaged Kaziranga National Park and took stock of the situation of the animals and forest guards.

"The picturesque Kaziranga National Park and its wonderful inhabitants are struggling with fury of flood. I made an extensive visit of the Park to gauge the extent of damages, & have instructed officials to do the best we can. My compliments to the staff for their spirited work," Sarma tweeted.

The ASDMA bulletin said that a total of 56 camps out of 223 at Kaziranga National Park and two out of 40 camps at Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park have been affected by the deluge.

The deluge has so far taken away the lives of 113 different animals, while 140 others were rescued in Kaziranga National Park, the bulletin said quoting DFO of the Eastern Assam Wildlife Division.

The flood has also affected 23,90,352 domestic animals and poultry across the state during the last 24 hours, it added.

(Photo credit for representation: PTI)