Assam floods: Situation improves with water level of rivers receding, 4.50 lakh remain affected

The flood situation in Assam improved further on Saturday with water levels of most rivers receding even as two more persons lost their lives and nearly 4.50 lakh people remained affected by the deluge in the state, an official bulletin said.

With the death of two residents of Nagaon district due to drowning, the toll in this year’s flood and in landslides rose to 32, it said.

According to the daily report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), 4,49,136 people continued to suffer from the deluge in Cachar, Dima Hasao, Goalpara, Hojai, Kamrup, Kamrup (Metro), Morigaon and Nagaon districts.

The number of people affected by the flood was 5,00,852 on Friday.

Kopili was the only river that was flowing above the danger mark in the Morigaon district, while water levels of all other rivers in the flood-hit districts maintained a receding trend.

Nagaon is the worst-affected district with over 3.07 lakh people suffering from the deluge, followed by Cachar (with 99,060 people) and Morigaon (with 40,843 people).

More than 44,551 people have taken shelter in 143 camps, while five relief distribution centres are currently functioning, the bulletin said.

Cachar has the highest number of inmates at 35,415 in relief camps, while 9,031 flood-affected people are in such temporary facilities in Nagaon district.

At present, 653 villages are under water and 29,160 hectares of crop areas have been damaged in the flood-hit districts of the state, the bulletin said.

An inter-ministerial central team (IMCT) from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs visited areas affected by the flood and landslides in Dima Hasao, Nagaon and Hojai districts on Saturday to assess the damage.

The team had reached Guwahati on Thursday and its members were divided into two groups in a bid to accelerate the damage assessment exercise.

Assam Chief Secretary Jishnu Barua interacted with the members of both the groups and all the stakeholders after they arrived here this evening.

He discussed with the central team members about the release of funds for quick repair of roads and other infrastructure damaged by the flood and landslides, the bulletin added.