Assam floods claim two lives, Kaziranga National Park inundated

Guwahati: Floods in Assam claimed two lives and affected over five lakh people in 14 districts of the state, besides inundating Kaziranga National Park and Pobitora wildlife sanctuary along with Dibru-Saikhowa National Park.

One person died in North Lakhimpur town of Lakhimpur district and another at Mayong in Morigaon district, Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said.

The swollen Brahmaputra and its tributaries have overflown their banks in Lakhimpur, Golaghat, Morigaon, Jorhat, Dhemaji, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Nagaon, Chirang, Kokrajhar, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Nagaon and Dhubri districts. As many as 1,039 villages in these 14 districts have been submerged. People have taken shelter on roads, bridges and relief camps, officials said.

Large areas of the Kaziranga National park and Dibru-Saikhowa wildlife sanctuary have been flooded forcing animals to take refuge in platforms built for their succour, forest department officials said.

Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, the densest habitat of one-horned rhinos, in Morigaon district has half of its area inundated, forcing all wild animals to seek shelter in nearby highlands. Several link roads to Pobitora are also submerged, the officials said.

Informing that the flood has overrun 47,000 hectare cropland, ASDMA said 70 relief camps and seven relief distribution centres have been opened to give shelter to 21,549 flood-hit people.

However, people who are still marooned alleged that sufficient relief materials from the government and district administration have not reached them.