The flood situation in Assam remained critical, with 41 people killed so far and over 6.50 lakh reeling under the deluge across 11 districts, officials said on Thursday. The Army, Air Force and other agencies continued relief and rescue operations, with drones being pressed into service, too, to provide essential items to stranded people in remote locations, they said. Several major rivers in the northeastern state were flowing above the danger level, the officials said. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is scheduled to visit some of the worst-hit areas of Golaghat district during the day.
He had overseen the rescue operations and interacted with the affected people in neighbouring Jorhat and Sivasagar on Wednesday. An Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) flood bulletin issued late on Wednesday said 10 people lost their lives in the deluge in 24 hours since Tuesday midnight, taking the toll in this year’s deluge to 41. More than 6,53,100 people have been affected in 11 districts – Sivasagar, Charaideo, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Hojai, Jorhat, Kamrup, Kamrup Metropolitan, Karbi Anglong and Nagaon. Sivasagar is the worst-hit, with nearly four lakh people affected, followed by Charaideo (around 1.11 lakh), and Jorhat (over 97,000), it said.
Altogether, 487 relief camps and relief distribution centres are operational in 10 districts, sheltering 24,418 displaced people. Till Tuesday, nearly 5.65 lakh people were affected by the flood in 12 districts. The India Meteorological Department has issued an alert for the next four days as it forecast thunderstorms, lightning and heavy rain at isolated places. The ASDMA bulletin said Desang and Dikhow were flowing above the “severe flood” level at two places in Sivasagar district, while the Dhansiri (S) had breached that level at Numaligarh in Golaghat.
The Buridihing river in Khowang and Kushiyara in Sribhumi were also flowing above the danger level. “All agencies are on the ground responding to the unprecedented flood situation triggered by a cloudburst in the neighbouring hills area and excessive rainfall. “Relief operations are underway with the distribution of food, drinking water, medicines and sanitary napkins, while rescue efforts continue in the affected areas,” the CMO said in a social media post on Thursday.