Inland Water Transport (IWT) department has temporarily suspended plying of any boat, both mechanised or manual, on Brahmaputra.
The Assam state ferry services has suspended from plying over Brahmaputra and Barak river till May 5 with immediate effect due to the impact of cyclone Fani, one of the strongest storms to batter the Indian subcontinent in decades.
As most parts of Assam witnessed incessant rains, Inland Water Transport authority, in an official statement asked the officers In-charges of the ferry Ghats/Commercial service/Construction site/workshop to remain vigilant regarding the maintenance/Mooring, securing of boats/vessels etc.
According to the flood bulletin of the Central Water Commission (CWC), the Desang river at Nanglamaraghat in Sivasagar district and the Puthimari river at NH Road Crossing in Kamrup district have crossed the warning levels.
Brahmaputra is maintaining a rising trend at all its gauge stations at Dibrugarh, Neamatighat, Tezpur, Guwahati, Goalpara and Dhubri, the CWC bulletin.
The Assam government, reportedly, deployed 40 companies of National Disaster Rescue Force at some vulnerable locations across the state.
As of Saturday, Fani has weakened into a "cyclonic storm leaving no more major threat" for West Bengal. It is situated at Shantipur in Nadia district about 60 km north of Kolkata, and is likely to enter Bangaldesh around Saturday noon.
