Assam floods: Toll rises to 43 as situation worsens; over 1 lakh people affected across six districts

Guwahati: The flood situation in Assam deteriorated on Saturday with two more deaths reported in Sivasagar district, taking the toll to 43, while nearly 1.1 lakh people remain affected across six districts in the state. [caption id=“attachment_4894321” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Partially submerged houses seen during flood in Golaghat. PTI[/caption] According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), two persons lost their lives in flood-related incidents at Sonari revenue circle of Sivasagar. With this, the total number of persons losing their lives in the two waves of flood this year in different parts of the state rose to 43. The ASDMA said over 1.09 lakh people are affected at present in Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Darrang, Golaghat, Sivasagar and Charaideo districts. Till Friday, around 87,000 people were affected in the six districts. As per the ASDMA report on Saturday, Golaghat is the worst affected with over 91,000 sufferers, followed by Lakhimpur with almost 6,000 people affected in the deluge. A Golaghat district official said heavy landslide has formed an artificial lake on upstream of Doyang river and the situation may worsen if it breaches, which will bring more water to Doyang and Dhansiri rivers. Currently, 163 villages are under water across the state and 10,991 hectares of crop areas have been damaged, the ASDMA report said. The authorities are running 132 relief camps and distribution centres in five districts, where 23,504 people have taken shelter. Currently, the Brahmaputra river at Nimatighat in Jorhat, Dhansiri river at Golaghat town and Numaligarh in Golaghat and Jia Bharali river at NT road crossing in Sonitpur are flowing above the danger mark, the ASDMA said. Massive erosions have also been witnessed at some places of Chirang district, it said.