Assam Floods Ease Slightly, But 6.5 Lakh Remain Displaced as Death Toll Reaches 66
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Assam Floods: Assam has been severely affected due to relentless rainfall and flood situation, forcing lakhs of people to leave their houses and seek shelter elsewhere. The rescue operations are underway. However, 66 people have lost their lives.
By Pranjal Gupta
New Delhi, July 26: In a slight relief, the water level in many flood-affected parts of Assam is receding, officials monitoring the situation said. However, the natural calamity has displaced over 6.5 lakh people in the region, necessitating urgent evacuations after nearly a fortnight of torrential rain. At least 66 people have died due to the floods.
An official from the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said the flood-hit areas of Upper Assam, especially Charaideo, Sivasagar and Jorhat districts, have received less rainfall overnight, resulting in a gradual improvement in the situation.
Which Area Was Affected The Most
According to the authority's daily flood report issued at midnight, more than 6,54,800 people have been affected across 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 improved marginally since Friday, when more than 7.05 lakh people were affected across nine districts.
The ASDMA's midnight bulletin said four more people lost their lives in the deluge in the last 24 hours, taking this year's flood death toll to 66. Three deaths were reported in Sivasagar and one in Charaideo.
PM Takes Stock of the Situation
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 relief measures at camps in the flood-affected areas and directed the officials concerned to ensure uninterrupted access to healthcare, food, drinking water and other essential services.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the situation has improved slightly and the administration has been able to reach almost all the affected areas.
Addressing a press conference after a late-evening Cabinet meeting, he said a central team had arrived in the state to assess the damage caused by the floods in Upper Assam.
Relief Camps
The ASDMA said the administration has been operating 274 relief camps and distribution centres across six districts, providing shelter to 18,902 displaced people.
Multiple agencies, including the Army, NDRF, SDRF, Fire and Emergency Services, police and civil authorities, have rescued many people from different parts of Upper Assam, it added.
The authority 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 flood victims across the state in the last 24 hours.
At present, 810 villages remain submerged and 34,970.8 hectares of crop area 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, the Dikhow River at Sivasagar and the Dhansiri River at Numaligarh are flowing above the danger level.
(With Inputs from news agency PTI)
