One more death takes Assam flood toll to 98, over 1.55 lakh people affected

The flood situation in Assam remained grim, with the toll rising by one to 98, even as the number of affected people dipped to 1.55 lakh in 13 districts, an official bulletin said.

The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) bulletin issued on Friday night said the latest death was reported from the Mahmora revenue circle in Charaideo district.

Thirteen districts -- Sivasagar, Golaghat, Nagaon, Hojai, Sonitpur, Dhemaji, Darrang, Biswanath, Kamrup (M), Lakhimpur, Udalguri, Jorhat and Charaideo -- remained affected by floodwaters, impacting 464 villages.

A total of 1,55,849 people were affected, with Golaghat being the worst-hit district, where 58,750 were affected, followed by Sivasagar (48,286) and Jorhat (25,259).

On Thursday, over 1.68 lakh people in 15 districts were affected.

The administration was operating 55 relief camps, sheltering over 10,000 displaced people. Another 18 relief distribution centres were also functional.

The Dhansiri River was flowing above the danger level at Golaghat town and Numaligarh, both in Golaghat district, and the Kushiyara in Sribhumi district.

A crop area of 10,748.64 hectares remained submerged, while over 47,000 animals have been affected.

Damage to infrastructure, including roads, bridges and houses, has also been reported from the affected districts, the bulletin said.