Silchar: Aerial view of the flood-affected area as seen by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma during his survey
Highlights
- Flood situation in Assam improved, although 5 more died and over 22 lakh people affected still
- Total number of people losing lives in flood and landslides in state has now gone up to 126
- Barpeta is the worst affected with nearly 7 lakh people in distress, followed by Nagaon (5.13 lakh)
The flood situation in Assam improved on Sunday, although five more persons died and over 22 lakh people continued to reel under the deluge across 25 districts, an official report said.
According to the daily bulletin of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), five persons, including four children, drowned at different places of Barpeta, Cachar, Darrang, Karimganj and Morigaon districts during the day.
Besides, two are missing in two districts, it said.
The total number of people losing lives in this year's flood and landslides in the state has now gone up to 126.
The bulletin said over 22,21,500 people were hit due to floods in Bajali, Baksa, Barpeta, Cachar, Chirang, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Goalpara, Golaghat, Hailakandi, Nalbari, Sonitpur, South Salmara, Tamulpur and Udalguri districts, among others.
Barpeta is the worst affected with nearly seven lakh people in distress, followed by Nagaon (5.13 lakh people) and Cachar (over 2.77 lakh people).
Urban flooding has also been experienced at several places in Cachar, Dibrugarh and Morigaon districts.
Till Saturday, over 25 lakh people were impacted by the deluge across 24 districts.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday visited Silchar in Cachar and Hajo in Kamrup, and issued instructions to agencies involved in the relief and rescue operations to maximise their reach, and ensure help at the earliest.
With Silchar town submerged in flood waters for a week, Sarma conceded that the administration has not been able to reach all the marooned people yet.
"We are not denying it," he said, appealing to people to stand by each other during this time of distress, and appreciated the philanthropic activities by individuals and groups in Silchar.
Sarma said about "50 per cent work of the administration" is being done by philanthropic organisations and people.
At present, 2,542 villages are under water and 74,706.77 hectares of crop area has been damaged across Assam, ASDMA said.
It said authorities are operating 680 relief camps and distribution centres in 23 districts, where 2,17,413 people, including 61,878 children, are taking shelter.
The bulletin said personnel of the Army, paramilitary force, NDRF, civil administration, trained volunteers, fire and emergency services and locals have evacuated 1,912 people from various flood-hit parts of the state in the last 24 hours.
The ASDMA said massive erosion and damage to embankments, roads, bridges and other infrastructure due to flood waters have been reported from a number of districts.
A total of 15,90,557 domestic animals and poultry have been affected in the deluge across 15 districts, it said.
Quoting a Central Water Commission bulletin, the ASDMA added that the Kopili river at Dharamtul is flowing above the danger level.
