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Assam floods: Over 2.4 million affected in 30 districts; 52 killed

ByBiswa Kalyan Purkayastha
Jul 06, 2024 12:30 PM IST

Dhubri remains the most affected district in Assam with 775,000 people suffering from the floods. Over 140,000 people in the district have been displaced and 3,627 have taken shelter in relief camps, according to the ASDMA data

Silchar: Assam remains the most affected state by the floods caused by the early arrival of monsoon this year, the Central Water Commission (CWC) has said. According to the CWC’s Friday bulletin, 16 of the 18 ‘severe flood situation’ areas across the country are in Assam and 18 districts of the northeastern state are facing a “severe flood situation” due to overflowing of major rivers like Brahmaputra, Barak, Kopili and others. The water level of Brahmaputra is likely to remain steady for the next 24 hours, while other rivers like Barak are showing a falling trend, it said.

According to the data from the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), over 2.4 million people across 30 districts have been affected by floods till Thursday, with 52 deaths.

Dhubri remains the most affected district in Assam with 775,000 people suffering from the floods. Over 140,000 people in the district have been displaced and 3,627 have taken shelter in relief camps, according to the ASDMA data.

The other major flood-affected districts with more than 100,000 population affected are Darrang (186,108), Cachar (175,231), Barpeta (139,399), Morigaon (146,045) and Nalbari (105,372).

According to the India Meteorological Department’s Friday report, Assam received 85% more rain than the normal amount.

Also Read: Assam floods: Brahmaputra above danger mark, CM Himanta says water receding

Moreover, 3,500 villages across 122 revenue circles have been affected by the floods and more than 63,490 hectares of agricultural land have been submerged due to the heavy rainfall in the past few days. The flood situation has also affected animal life with more than 1.5 million domestic animals affected by the floods. 

On Wednesday, eight persons died in Assam due to floods while on Thursday, six deaths were reported. No death was reported due to floods on Friday, however, two lost lives due to the landslide.

A 35-year-old lady and her 14-year-old son died in Assam’s Guwahati after their house collapsed due to a landslide, according to the officials. On July 2, a 40-year-old father and his 6-month-old son died in Assam’s Cachar district after their house collapsed due to heavy rainfall. Earlier on June 19, five members of a family died in a similar incident.

In the Chandmari area of Guwahati, an 8-year-old boy drowned in a drain amid heavy rainfall on Thursday night. He was on his way home with his father and their two-wheeler vehicle met with a minor accident, according to the police.

“The minor boy fell into a drain and washed away. A State Disaster Response Force team has been deployed in the search operation,” police said.

Due to the overflowing of the Brahmaputra River, a large part of the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve was inundated till Friday, with 77 animals dead, according to the director of the park, Sonali Ghosh. This includes three rhinos, 62 hog deer and some other wildlife species. The forest department has rescued 94 animals and 50 of them have been released to safe areas, officials said.

The forest teams on Thursday rescued a two-year-old rhino calf. The other species they rescued include hog deer, Indian Hare, Otter, elephant, Sambar, Jungle Cat and Scops Owl, said officials.

Assam chief minister, who visited several areas to take stock of the situation, said that around 40 embankments have been breached during the flood across the state while 60 more embankments were damaged by the heavy flow of water. Roads in nearly 1,000 areas have been damaged which includes 52 bridges.

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi on Friday visited some flood-affected areas and he said that the central government is not taking Assam’s flood situation seriously. He also said that he has doubts if home minister Amit Shah actually called Assam CM and took stock of the flood situation.

Responding to this, Sarma said that this is not a good time to get involved in political blame games because the people of Assam are suffering. “Our priority is to support people in distress. If I start comparing what Congress did during floods in the past, I can bring a lot. But this is not the right time and I don’t like to politicise such issues,” he said.

Meanwhile, multiple landslides caused by heavy rainfall across Arunachal Pradesh have disrupted connectivity and over 60,000 people are affected by this, according to official reports. A large part of Miao-Vijaynagar (MV) Road was damaged by landslides, dozens of trees were uprooted, and massive rocks were dislodged due to heavy rainfall, causing blockages at 16, 23, and 27 Miles.

In Manipur, the flood situation slightly improved on Friday as the water level in all major rivers receded due to less rainfall in the last 12 hours, officials said.

The rainfall was recorded in six locations across the state, which was under 10 millilitres. Most of the gates of barrages controlling the water level of rivers were opened to reduce the water level of the rivers flowing in the state, according to the State Water Resources Department.

Manipur chief minster N Biren Singh, along with his cabinet colleagues, visited Imphal East district on Friday to assess the damages caused by the floods and landslides. He said the government’s maximum efforts are being provided to strengthen the rescue, relief, and rehabilitation.

The IMD has issued a warning for heavy rainfall in isolated places in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and surrounding areas till between 6 and 9 July.

According to the IMD’s Friday report, Assam received 85% more rain than the normal amount. Arunachal Pradesh received 133%, Manipur 14% and Nagaland 28% more rainfall than the normal amount in the last 24 hours.

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