Assam flood toll rises to seven; 14 lakh hit in 25 districts

Guwahati, July 13

Heavy monsoon rains in Assam has displaced lakhs of people from their homes and flash floods have killed at least seven in the past four days, state authorities said on Saturday, warning the situation could worsen in coming days.

The Brahmaputra River, which flows from the Himalayas into India and then through Bangladesh, has burst its banks, swamping 2,168 villages and 51,752 hectares of crop land. Assam State Disaster Management Authority’s data shows seven people have been killed so far, mostly by drowning.  Some 14.06 lakh villages have been affected across 25 districts.

The state’s emergency response team has been scampering to deal with the escalating situation. Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal , who spoke to Union Home Minister Amit Shah to brief him earlier in the day, said his administration had set up 24x7 flood control rooms across the districts.

Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Sonitpur, Darrang, Baksa, Barpeta, Nalbari, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Goalpara, Kamrup, Morigaon, Hojai, Nagaon, Golaghat, Majuli, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Cacha and West Karbi Anglong districts are currently reeling. Barpeta is the worst hit— 5.22 people have been affected in the district. 

Brahmaputra at Guwahati, Nimatighat in Jorhat, Tezpur in Sonitpur, Goalpara and Dhubri towns, while the Barak at AP Ghat in Cachar and Badarpurghat in Karimganj both flow above danger marks, increasing the risk of more flooding.  

Over 20,000 people are currently living at 234 relief camps and distribution centres in 21 districts.

Heavy rains have damaged train tracks in Lumding-Badarpur hill section under the Lumding Division of Northeast Frontier Railway, prompting authorities to cancel a number of trains in the area.

"The repair work has already started on a war footing and senior railway officers are camping at the site, monitoring the restoration work. But, heavy rain is continuing in the area, making the soil loose. We expect restoration work to be completed by July 16 if the weather conditions don’t worsen," NF Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Pranav Jyoti Sharma said.  PTI