Assam floods: 58 people dead, 23 lakh affected by torrential rain
The floods in Assam over the past month have claimed 58 lives and affected 23 lakh people according to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).
Assam is dealing with loss of lives as well as the destruction of infrastructure, road closures, livestock loss and crop damage. Hundreds of people have been left homeless and unsettled.
The water levels of the Brahmaputra and nine other rives have risen above the danger mark in Neamatighat, Tezpur, Dhubri, and Goalpara. Though most rivers are in spate, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said waters are slowly receding, news agency ANI reported.
As many as 577 relief camps have been established in the state across 27 districts and over 5,26,000 people are currently taking shelter in them. Distribution centres for food and other aid have also been set up.
The deluge has submerged 3,535 villages under 107 revenue circles and inundated 68,768.5 hectares of crop area. 1,549,161 animals have also been affected due to the incessant flooding.
The ASDMA reports that on July 6, two people drowned in the flood waters in the Charaideo district. One person died in Goalpara, another in Morigaon, Sonitpur and Tinsukia districts.
Dhubri district is the worst-hit, followed by Cachar and Darrang. ASDMA reports that 2.396 million people across 29 districts are affected by this second wave of floods.
In Dhubri 797,918 people have been affected, followed by 175,231 people in Cachar, 163,218 people in Darrang, 131,246 people in Barpeta, 109,470 people in Golaghat, 105,372 people in Nalbari, and 100,926 people in South Salmara district.
The chief minister met the bereaved parents of Abhinash Sarkar in Jyotinagar, Guwahati on Saturday to offer his condolences after their son went missing during the floods after falling into a drain near a temple.
Sarma also visited the site of the accident and examined the ongoing search efforts. He ordered the concerned departments and search teams to pick up their efforts to locate the child.
On Friday, the chief minister also visited Dibrugarh to monitor the flood situation and find community-driven solutions to the water inundated in many areas.