Assam floods: Death toll rises to 52; over 21 lakh people affected in 29 districts
The flood situation in Assam is critical with a total death toll of 52 and about 21.13 lakh people are affected in 29 districts by the second wave of flood.
According to the flood report of Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), 6 people died in the last 24 hours in the state the total death toll has risen to 52.
More than 3.86 lakh people are taking shelter in 515 relief camps and distribution centres set up by the administration in 24 flood-hit districts.
The Assam State Disaster Management Authority said that 11,20,165 animals were also affected by the deluge.
The number of affected villages has risen to 3,208 while devastating floodwaters have resulted in the death of 31 wild animals in Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNP), the field director of KNP said.
According to the reports of Kaziranga National Park authority, 23 hog deer drowned in flood waters while 7 other hog deer died under care.
The flood-affected districts are Goalpara, Nagaon, Nalbari, Kamrup, Morigaon, Dibrugarh, Sonitpur, Lakhimpur, South Salmara, Dhubri, Jorhat, Charaideo, Hojai, Karimganj, Sivasagar, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Dhemaji, Hailakandi, Golaghat, Darrang, Biswanath, Cachar, Kamrup (M), Tinsukia, Karbi Anglong, Chirang, Karbi Anglong West, Majuli.
According to the Morigaon District Administration, “The flood situation in Assam’s Morigaon district is still grim as more than 55,000 people have been affected by the deluge. Thousands of villagers are now taking shelter on embankments, and roads after the flood waters entered their homes.”
As per the information from the district administration, 194 villages in the district are still submerged in the floodwaters.
Chandini Devi, from the Bhuragaon area in Morigaon district, told ANI that, for the last 4 days her family has been living in a makeshift tent on the embankment.
Dipen Deka, another flood-affected villager, said that this year floods have submerged the area.
“Many people have lost their valuable goods in this flood and household articles were also damaged. We have been living in the floodwaters for the last 4 days. People are facing lots of problems,” Dipen Deka said.
Meanwhile, Assam Agriculture Minister Atul Bora on Thursday visited the flood-affected areas in Morigaon district.
He also interacted with the flood-affected people who are now taking shelter on the embankment in the Bhuragaon area in the Morigaon district.
Atul Bora told ANI that the water level of the Brahmaputra River is receding in the Morigaon district, but the flood situation is still grim.
“As instructed by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, I came to Morigaon to take stock of the flood situation. The situation is still grim and 28 districts of the state have been affected in this flood. Yesterday we had a meeting of the state cabinet headed by the Chief Minister and he instructed us to visit the flood-affected districts,” he said.
“The Assam CM instructed me to visit Morigaon and Nagaon districts. I discussed this with the district administration and as of today 55,459 people in the district have been affected by the deluge and 194 villages have been affected,” said Atul Bora.
The Assam Agriculture Minister also said that the farmers of the state will not face more damage because this flood comes in July.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday visited the flood-affected areas in the state capital and directed the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority to take appropriate measures to drain the flood water accumulated there.
The Chief Minister visited the Shiv Mandir sluice gate, BBC Colony from Pandu Port Road, and Pandunath Devalaya sluice gate in the city to take stock of the flood situation.
The area is inundated due to the rising waters of the Brahmaputra River. The Chief Minister, during the visit, took stock of the problems faced by the people and the steps taken to address them.
The Chief Minister inspected the drains along the Pandu Port road and directed the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority to take appropriate measures to drain the water accumulated there.
He then visited the sluice gate at BBC Colony on Pandu Port Road and the Pandunath Devalaya sluice gate.
As there is no guard wall at the Pandunath Devalaya sluice gate and due to the flood waters of the Brahmaputra inundated some areas, the Chief Minister directed the Water Resources Department to construct the guard wall as soon as possible.
The Chief Minister said that appropriate steps will be taken to solve the flood problem in these areas and that the water level of the Brahmaputra is expected to decrease from today.
The Indian Army has been actively involved in extensive flood relief operations in the villages of Sivaguri (Dhemaji District, Assam).
In response to the dire situation, the Indian Army has deployed multiple flood relief columns in the affected areas.
Meanwhile, amid a disastrous situation in Assam due to floods, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi on Thursday alleged that the BJP government is repeatedly giving embankment projects to the same contractors who have built faulty embankments.
“I had said that it is a matter of great concern. I am very concerned and I think the central government should also be concerned. I am aware that Prime Minister Modi talked to the Chief Minister, but I am worried about whether the Chief Minister himself knows the real truth or not. For the last 10 years, we have been seeing that the Jal Shakti Department of the BJP government is repeatedly giving embankment projects to contractors who build broken embankments or are not able to do their work properly while building embankments, but even after that, the same contractor gets work again and again,” Gogoi said.
He also mentioned that the BJP actually does not want a long-term and permanent solution.
“Jal Shakti Department is being used like an ATM here. That is why I said in my speech that the Water Minister from the Centre should come and see how much money is being looted through embankment during the floods in Assam,” the Congress MP said.
