Assam floods: 5 people including 4 children drown to death, more than 22 lakh people affected
Floods in the northeastern state of Assam is creating havoc with five more deaths and over 22 lakh people affected in 25 districts. According to Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), five people, including four children.
These people were drowned at different places in Barpeta, Cachar, Darrang, Karimganj and Morigaon districts on Sunday.
Apart from this, two people are missing in two districts. The number of people who lost their lives in floods and landslides this year in the state has risen to 126. More than 22,21,500 people were affected due to floods in Balaji, Baksa, Barpeta, Cachar, Chirang, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Goalpara, Golaghat, Hailakandi, Nalbari, Sonitpur, South Salmara, Tamulpur and Udalguri districts.
Most affected areas
The worst affected is Barpeta district where around seven lakh people are affected. After this, 5.13 lakh people are affected in Nagaon and 2.77 lakh in Cachar. Several places in Cachar, Dibrugarh and Morigaon districts were also affected by the floods. Till Saturday, more than 25 lakh people were affected by the floods in 24 districts.
State Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday visited Silchar in the worst-hit Cachar district and Hajo in Kamrup. He directed the agencies involved in the relief and rescue operations to increase their reach and provide help at the earliest.
As Silchar city was submerged for a week, Sarma admitted that the administration has not yet reached all the people. He said, “We are not denying it.” He appealed to the people to stand with each other in this difficult time and appreciated the charitable activities in Silchar.
More than 2500 villages submerged in water
Himanta Biswa Sarma said that ‘about 50% of the administration work’ is being done by philanthropic organisations and people. The ASDMA said that at present 2,542 villages are submerged and 74,706.77 acres of cultivable land has been damaged. It said that the authority is running 680 relief camps and distribution centers in 23 districts, where 2,17,413 people have taken shelter.
Army, paramilitary forces, NDRF, civil administration, trained volunteers, fire and emergency service personnel and local people have rescued 1,912 people from various flood-hit areas of the state in the last 24 hours, the bulletin said. Quoting a bulletin of the Central Water Commission, the ASDMA said that the Kopili river in Dharamatul is flowing above the danger mark.