Assam floods: 12 more die, toll rises to 151
Two persons died in Cachar and Chirang respectively, while Barpeta, Biswanath, Darrang, Golaghat, Kamrup Metro, Lakhimpur and Nagaon reported one death each on Wednesday due to floods, Assam authorities said.
The flood situation in Assam worsened on Wednesday as 12 fresh deaths, including a child, were reported across ten districts, taking the toll to 151.
Two persons died in Cachar and Chirang respectively, while Barpeta, Biswanath, Darrang, Golaghat, Kamrup Metro, Lakhimpur and Nagaon reported one death each on Wednesday.
According to Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), over 3.15 million people across 26 districts of Assam are still affected by the flood. Over 300,000 flood-affected individuals are still sheltered in 840 relief camps across Assam. People in 2,675 villages have been affected while 91,349.26 hectares of crop areas remained submerged till Wednesday, the ASDMA said.
Silchar town in Barak Valley remained the worst affected area, with large parts remaining submerged for the tenth consecutive day. Major rivers, including Brahmaputra, Barak, Kopili and Beki are still flowing above danger level as per the reports of the Central Water Commission (CWC).
Deputy Commissioner of Cachar district Keerthi Jalli said they are expecting that the water will recede from entire urban areas in the next three to four days.
Jalli told HT, “Agencies are working on restoration works but drinking water is one of our concerns. If it doesn’t rain heavy, we can expect the flood water to go down from all the areas in the next three to four days. We are trying to distribute packaged drinking water all across the town.”
Barak river is still flowing above the danger level at Annapurna Ghat but sluice gates in several areas have been opened. In some areas, stagnant water is being pumped out by using machines. The damaged embankment in the Bethukandi area, from which major water entered Silchar town on June 20, is also being repaired by the district administration.
However, some locals from the Bethukandi area alleged that they wrote a letter to Cachar DC highlighting the broken part of the embankment on June 4 but the administration allegedly avoided this. Officials of the Cachar administration refused to comment on this.
Avishek Chakraborty, a resident of Public School Road said, “The water is flowing from the Fatak Bazaar area to our side. It smells bad and it’ll bring so many diseases I believe.”
Congress leader and local businessman Tamal Kanti Banik said, “Shops are now opening slowly and the amount of loss will be huge. We have appealed to the administration to pump out the water quickly and use medicines.”
Arup Paul, assistant general manager of Silchar electrical division-1, said that power supply has resorted in more than 60% of Silchar town. “We are yet to restore power supply in Chenkoorie Road, Ashram Road, some parts of Bihar, Das Colony, Subhas Nagar and National Highway Road. Only 43 transformers need to be restored and our team’s area surveying in those areas,” he said.
According to District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), Cachar, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are being used in preparing a flood map of Silchar town to identify the extent of the damage.
The DDMA along with UNICEF and OXFAM have set up boat-mounted water treatment units to cater to the needy within Silchar and its peripheral areas said the DDMA officials.