Assam flood situation grim, 29 lakh affected; death toll at 159

Guwahati: Assam's flood situation remained grim on Friday with eight more people losing their lives in the last 24 hours and over 29 lakh still affected, officials said.

Most parts of Cachar district headquarters, Silchar, were still waterlogged, they said.

The death toll due to floods and landslides this year increased to 159, while one person was reported missing, taking the cumulative number to 36, according to a bulletin issued by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).

An inter-ministerial central team (IMCT) of the Union Home Ministry is in the state and planned to visit some flood-affected areas during the day and also on Saturday.

The team has been divided into two groups with one visiting Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj and the other going to Nalbari, Bajali, Kamrup and Morigaon to assess the damage caused by the floods, according to a press release.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma went to Karimganj, his third visit to the Barak Valley in the last ten days, to review the situation there.

He visited the relief camp at Subhas High School, Kalibari and Gopikanagar in the district.

The chief minister had earlier made two visits to Silchar and conducted an aerial survey of the submerged town.

Several parts of Silchar, including Meherpur, Vivekananda Road, Das Colony, Ambicapatty, Church Road, Chandicharan Road, Bilpar, Public School Road, Subhash Nagar and NS Avenue areas, remained under floodwater.

Deputy Commissioner Keerthi Jalli said work is going on to repair the damaged portion of the dyke breached at Bethukundi which led to the waterlogging in the town.

Work is also underway to repair the damaged dyke at Barjuri in Katigorah revenue circle of Cachar district, she said.

She said a priority is being given to reach the affected people with drinking water and food, while medical camps are being set up by the health department in all the 28 municipal wards to ensure the prevention of water-borne diseases.

Meanwhile, 2,608 villages under 75 revenue circles have been affected by the deluge across the state, while 3,05,565 people have taken shelter in 551 relief camps, according to the bulletin.

Relief materials were distributed from 355 delivery points among flood-hit people who have not taken shelters in the temporary facilities.

Among the worst-affected districts are Cachar with 14,31,652, followed by Nagaon with 5,19,463 and Barpeta with 4,00,502.

Two embankments were breached, one each in Biswanath and Udalguri, while 221 roads, five bridges and 557 houses have been damaged due to the floods.

A cultivated area of 76,115 hectares has been inundated, while 51 animals were washed away.

Large-scale erosion was also reported from Biswanath, Bongaigaon, Chirang, Dhemaji, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Kamrup, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Morigaon, Sonitpur, Tamulpur and Tinsukia, the bulletin added.