Watch: Locals take to fishing on a waterlogged highway of deluge-hit Assam

The death toll due to floods, landslides and other rain-related activities in Assam this year rose to 55, with at least nine fatalities the previous day.

As heavy rains continued to inundate parts of Assam, some locals chose to make good use of the submerged stretches of a busy highway. A video shared by news agency ANI showed locals laying fishing nets on a flooded street in the Moranjana area of Kamrup district as vehicular traffic remained halted due to the waterlogging.

A man laying a fishing net in waterlogged street in Assam's Kamrup district. (ANI)

The northeastern state has been witnessing incessant downpour over the past few weeks that has left about 19 lakh people affected in 28 districts.

In the clip shared by ANI, several men in knee-deep water were seen laying fish nets on the inundated side of National Highway 31 at Rangia in Kamrup district.

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The floods in the northeastern state turned critical on Friday as nine more people, including two children, lost their lives, taking the death toll in this year's floods and landslides to 55, the state's bulletin showed. In Kamrup district alone, flood waters entered new areas affecting more than 70,000 people in the area.

According to officials, water levels of the Borolia river and several other major rivers of the district are rising due to the unceasing rains. The Borolia river overflowed on Thursday washing away a portion of an embankment at Choumukha, while submerging several villages in the Hajo area.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to take stock of the situation. Sarma has been visiting several relief camps sheltering affected people on Saturday, officials told ANI.

"At 6 am today, PM Modi called me to enquire about the flood situation in Assam. While expressing his concerns over hardships being faced by people due to this natural calamity, PM assured all help from Central Government," the Assam chief minister had tweeted today.

As many as 2,930 villages have been affected by the deluge, with 43,338 hectares of cropland under water and 410 animals getting washed away.

(With agency inputs)