Assam flood situation turns worse

Guwahati, Jun 27: Incessant rainfall in Assam has led to worsening of the flood situation in the state today triggering fresh inundation and landslides in 23 districts that left 10 more dead, taking the toll in this wave of floods to 20.





While a woman and her two children were buried in a landslide at Dhirenpara area of the city, two others met a similar fate in Dima Hasao district and one each in Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Nagaon, Kamrup(Rural) and Cachar districts, official sources said.

The 23 affected districts are Tinsukia, Darrang, Bongaigaon, Jorhat, Kamrup (Metro), Golaghat, Cachar, Kokrajhar, Nalbari, Sonitpur, Karbi Anglong, Dima Hasao, Nagaon, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Dhubri, Kamrup(Rural), Karimganj, Hailakandi, Morigaon, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji and Goalpara, the sources said.

Heavy rainfall has caused Brahmaputra to swell and is threatening to submerge Majuli,Asia's largest river island in Jorhat district, where a red alert has been sounded after the river breached its embankments at Sonowal Kachari.

The island's famous Vaishnavite monasteries are now under threat of total submergence, the sources said.

Water levels of various rivers are rising in both Brahmaputra and Barak valleys, while landslides have disrupted road and rail networks at the Dima Hasao hill district.