Assam flood situation improves as water levels recede, 6.5 lakh still affected
The flood situation in Assam improved on Sunday as water levels were receding in most of the affected areas, with those places not receiving overnight rainfall, even as over 6.5 lakh people remained hit in six districts and 66 people lost their lives in this year’s deluge, officials said.
An official of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said that water levels were receding in most of the flood-hit areas of Upper Assam, especially Charaideo, Sivasagar and Jorhat districts.
“We hope the situation would improve further during the day. This would help us provide relief in a better way,” he added.
According to the authority’s daily flood report issued at midnight, more than 6,54,800 people have been affected in Charaideo, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Jorhat, Nagaon and Sivasagar districts.
Sivasagar was the worst-hit district with nearly 2.9 lakh people affected, followed by Charaideo (1.9 lakh) and Jorhat (1.3 lakh). The flood situation has improved marginally since Friday, when more than 7.05 lakh people were affected across nine districts.
The ASDMA’s midnight bulletin said that four more people lost their lives in the deluge in the last 24 hours, taking the toll in this year’s floods to 66. Three deaths were reported in Sivasagar and one in Charaideo.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday offered full support to the Assam Government in dealing with the deluge, which has shown signs of improvement as rain has stopped in most parts of the State.
Union Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal reviewed the relief measures at camps in flood-affected areas and directed officials concerned to ensure uninterrupted access to healthcare, food, drinking water and other essential services.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the situation has slightly improved and the administration has been able to reach out to almost all the affected areas.
Addressing a press conference after a late-evening cabinet meeting, he said that a central team has arrived in the State to assess the damage caused by the flood in Upper Assam.
ASDMA said the administration has been operating 274 relief camps and distribution centres in six districts, taking care of 18,902 displaced people at present.
Multiple agencies such as the Army, NDRF, SDRF, Fire & Emergency Services, police and civil agencies have rescued many people from different parts of Upper Assam, it added.
The authority has distributed 1,668.68 quintals of rice, 286.99 quintals of dal, 83.75 quintals of salt and 7,995.01 litres of mustard oil among the flood victims of the State in the last 24 hours.
At present, 810 villages are under water and 34,970.8 hectares of crop areas have been damaged across Assam, the ASDMA said.
Embankments, roads, bridges and other infrastructure have been damaged by floodwaters in different districts of the State. At present, Dikhow River at Sivasagar and Dhansiri at Numaligarh are flowing above the danger level.
