Assam flood claims 2 more lives, toll rises to 61; 10.75 lakh people affected in 18 districts, say officials

Guwahati: Two more persons on Saturday lost their lives in the flood which has affected 10.75 lakh people in 18 districts of Assam, a government report said. One person died in Morigaon and another in Tinsukia district, taking the toll to 61 across the state, of which 37 people were killed in the flood and 24 died due to landslides triggered by incessant rainfall, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said in its daily bulletin. Flood waters receded from Lakhimpur and Bongaigaon on Saturday even as Dhemaji, Biswanath, Chirang, Darrang, Nalbari, Barpeta, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, South Salmara, Goalpara, Kamrup, Kamrup Metropolitan, Morigaon, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts were affected by the deluge. Barpeta remains the worst-hit district with over 6.33 lakh people affected, followed by South Salmara with almost 1.95 lakh people affected and Goalpara with more than 83,300 persons, the bulletin said, adding the SDRF, district administrations and local people have evacuated 1,046 people in three districts during the last 24 hours. Altogether 53,348.42 hectares of crop areas are submerged under water, the ASDMA said. The Brahmaputra river is flowing above the danger mark at Neamatighat in Jorhat and Dhubri town in Dhubri districts, while its tributaries Jia Bharali at NT Road Crossing in Sonitpur, Kopili at Dharamtul in Nagaon and Beki at Road Bridge in Barpeta are also in spate. Thirty-two of 223 camps at Kaziranga National Park and two out of 40 camps at Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park have been affected by the deluge. The district administration has set up 171 relief camps and distribution centres across eight districts where 6,531 people are taking shelter currently. Authorities have distributed rice, dal, salt, mustard oil along with other relief materials such as tarpaulin, snacks, candle, match box, drinking water, milk and biscuit. Embankments, roads, bridges, culverts and many other infrastructures have been damaged at various places in Nalbari, Barpeta, Bongaigaon Darrang, Dhubri, Nagaon and Dibrugarh districts. Massive erosions have been witnessed at different places of Kokrajhar and South Salmara districts, the ASDMA said.