One more death takes Assam flood toll to 98, waters start receding

The flood situation in Assam remained grim on Friday, with the death toll rising by one to 98, even as the number of affected districts declined to 13 and the number of people impacted by the deluge came down to 1.55 lakh, according to an official bulletin.

The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) bulletin 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 -- continued to remain affected by floodwaters, impacting 33 revenue circles and 464 villages.

The total affected population in the state stood at 1,55,849, with Golaghat being the worst-hit district, where 58,750 people remained affected, followed by Sivasagar (48,286) and Jorhat (25,259).

On Thursday, 15 districts and over 1.68 lakh people 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.

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

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