Assam floods: Incessant rains, waterlogging claim 89 lives
The death toll in Assam floods so far rose to 89 on Tuesday (June 21) with seven more deaths being reported from Kamrup district (3) and one each from Karimganj, Darrang, Udalguri and Tamulpur.
The incessant rains has impacted 32 of the 35 districts and over 55 lakh residents of the north eastern state.
The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said the state was witnessing floods and landslides for the last eight days, leaving behind a huge trail of destruction everywhere.
Relief materials were also distributed among people who are affected by the floods and have not taken shelter in relief camps, the ASDA said. About 2.60 lakh people are housed in some 800 relief camps situated in different parts of Assam. Nearly 2,500 houses have been destroyed and approximately 60,000 animals are missing. The non-stop rains have also destroyed standing crops on about 1 lakh hectares of land.
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The National Disaster Response Force has been helping the district administrations evacuate people from the flood-hit areas.
The state disaster response force, fire and emergency services personnel, policemen and ASDMA volunteers have also been deployed for rescue operations. Till Sunday, 20,983 people were evacuated, a state bulletin stated.
Urban areas are grappling with waterlogging while landslides were reported from Kamrup, Hailakandi and Karimganj.
About 2,000 people from Morigaon are presently living on National Highway-37 because there houses were washed away.
In Guwahati, heavy rains since Saturday night (June 19) have thrown life out of gear. Knee-deep water logging has been reported in many areas across the city, while water has touched the chest level at some places.
Guwahati Municipal Corporation Commissioner Devashish Sharma told reporters that sluice gates on the Bharalu river have been shut.
“Due to heavy rain in Upper Assam and flowing of excess water through the Brahmaputra, the water level of the river in Guwahati has risen considerably. Its level is now above that of its tributary Bharalu,” he said. To stop backflow of Brahmaputra water into the city, the administration has closed all the sluice gates on the Bharalu, the lifeline of Guwahati city. This led to flooding of new areas in the city.
According to a PTI report, South Garo Hills district in Meghalaya too has been hit by flash floods and landslides. Roads and bridges have been washed away while power supply and mobile connectivity has got disrupted.
