Assam reels under massive flood; 1.5 million affected

Guwahati, July 27 (IANS) Over 15 lakh people are marooned by the current wave of floods in Assam in 19 districts even as there are reports that new areas have been inundated by surging waters of Brahmaputra river and its tributaries.

Flood waters have inundated 2,653 villages across 19 districts, affecting 15,70,571 persons and forcing 1,27,786 persons to take shelter in 322 relief camps in the districts till late Tuesday evening.

The flood affected districts are Lakhimpur, Golaghat, Bongaigaon, Jorhat, Dhemaji, Sivsagar, Barpeta, Kokrajhar, Nagaon, Dibrugarh, Chirang, Golapara, Tinsukia, Dubbri, Morigaon, Sonitpur, Biswanath, Darrang and Nalbari.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has asked the legislators to go to their respective constituencies to assess the flood situation and submit their reports that will help preparing the detailed memorandum to the central government.

The Chief Minister will visit the Majuli river island, which is also his constituency, to make an on-the-spot assessment of the situation there.

Sonowal has also asked the legislators to liaise with the Deputy Commissioners to address the difficulties and to streamline the process of distribution of relief materials.

"The MLAs must remain with the affected people in their hour of distress and provide succour to them," Sonowal said on Wednesday.

The Chief Minister has also asked the Deputy Commissioners in the flood-hit districts to step up relief and rescue operations as enough funds have been released to provide respite to the affected people.

Sonowal directed the Deputy Commissioners to provide the relief as there was no dearth of funds, and asked them to release within a week an ex-gratia amount of Rs 4 lakh each to the next of kin of those who died in the deluge.

He further asked the Deputy Commissioners to ensure that the affected people in relief camps did not face any difficulty in matters of ration, medicine, sanitation and pure drinking water.

"Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has assured all possible help to our government to deal with the situation and in bearing the costs of relief, rescue and rehabilitation. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keeping a close watch on the crisis," Sonowal said.

Meanwhile, the floods have also inundated 80 per cent of Kaziranga National Park, forcing the animals to migrate to higher grounds and hills located in the neighbouring Karbi Anglong district.

Park officials on Wednesday said that 129 of the total 178 anti-poaching camps inside the park have been inundated by the floods.

"Five hog deer have died after being hit by speeding cars while trying to cross the NH-37 that bifurcates the park while three others died due to drowning. A few rhinos have also crossed the NH-37 towards Karbi Anglong and those are being continuously monitored by park patrol," a park officials said.

The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) officials said that over 1,37,041.08 hectares of cropland have been affected by the floods and hundreds of houses have been damaged in different districts. Roads and embankments have also been breached.