Assam floods: Death toll increases to 75, over 1.65 lakh people across 15 districts remain affected

Guwahati: The flood situation in Assam marginally improved on Friday with the water level of the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers, along with their tributaries, showing a receding trend at most places. The floods, however, claimed two more lives, pushing the death toll to 75. [caption id=“attachment_3841907” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of locals stranded in Assam floods. Reuters[/caption] The swirling waters of the Dhansiri river claimed a life in Golaghat district, while another person died at Hojai, according to a report by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA). Most of the rivers in the state were showing a receding trend, but the Dhansiri was flowing above the ‘danger’ mark at Golaghat and Numaligarh, the ASDMA said. Over 1.65 lakh people remained affected due to the floods in Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Barpeta, Dhubri, Goalpara, Morigaon, Nagaon, Karbi Anglong, Golaghat, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Karimganj, Hailakandi and Cachar districts. As many as 421 villages were still under water and nearly 21,574 hectares of crop area had been inundated, the agency said. Golaghat is the worst-hit district with 40,898 people affected due to the floods, followed by Morigaon with over 39,000 people marooned. Golaghat has also suffered heavy infrastructural damages with an embankment and a connecting bridge between Barpathar and Dhansiri, along with parts of three other roads, washed away. A total of 13,332 people are still staying at 80 relief camps and the respective district administrations are providing the necessary assistance to them. Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday visited the Lezai and Kalakhawa areas in Dibrugarh district and interacted with the flood-hit people. He said the Centre had taken effective steps for dredging the river bed and would construct expressways on both sides of the Brahmaputra to reduce the menace of the perennial floods and erosion in the state.