Pre-monsoon floods claim 7 lives in Assam, leave 2 lakh displaced

The toll in the ongoing pre-monsoon floods and landslides in Assam rose to seven with two deaths reported from Cachar district. Over two lakh people so far have been affected in 24 out of 33 districts in the state since April 6, officials said. Presently, 20 districts are flooded.

Officials of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said two people died in southern Assam’s Cachar district during the past 24 hours while five died earlier in landslides in Dima Hasao (4) and Lakhimpur (1) districts, reported NDTV.

Also read: Early floods, landslides leave railway tracks hanging in Assam

According to officials, six people remained missing in Cachar district due to the floods and landslides. An ASDMA bulletin said at least over two lakh people were affected and around 6,540 houses either partially and fully damaged in 811 villages under 24 districts.

Communication lines broken

Some of the worst-affected districts include Cachar, Dima Hasao, Hojai and Charaideo. The situation in the hill section under Dima-Hasao district of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) remained critical on Tuesday as rain continued to batter the mountainous region, affecting the Lumding-Badarpur single line railway route.

The Lumding-Badarpur section in Assam is the only route to connect Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and the southern part of Assam with the rest of the country. This rail link has been cut off for the past four days causing price rise in the essentials.

Communication lines have also snapped in some parts of Assam, completely isolating those stuck in the flood-hit and low-lying areas. The massive landslides and waterlogging have also destroyed the state’s infrastructure, bridges, roads and railway tracks, reports suggest.

Heavy rains to continue

The north-eastern state has been hit by the first wave of floods this year after incessant rainfall for the past couple of days, following which the water level of rivers has gradually increased.

The Indian Meteorological Department has forecast very heavy to extremely heavy rain in the region for the next three days. Assam will stay on ‘red alert’ for Wednesday as well.

Also watch: 5 dead, 3 missing in Assam flash floods

Around 55 relief camps have been opened in seven districts, sheltering 33,000 people. Another 12 relief distribution centres are also operational in different affected districts. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Fire and Emergency Services, besides locals, have been carrying out rescue operations in the flood-hit areas.

(With inputs from agencies)