Assam floods: Death toll jumps to 45; Kiren Rijiju takes aerial survey of affected areas

Lakhimpur: Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday undertook an aerial survey of flood-hit districts in Assam, where the death toll due to the deluge has mounted to 45. The minister of state for home was accompanied by officials of the National Disaster Response Force, NITI Ayog and National Disaster Management Authority. Before the survey, Rijiju met district administration officials in Lakhimpur, which has been hit the hardest by floods and visited deluge-ravaged Pasnoi Baolidan village. [caption id=“attachment_3808491” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of locals stranded in the Assam floods. Reuters[/caption] More than 3 lakh people have been marooned by flood waters in Lakhimpur district alone. Though rains eluded the district over the last two days, the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries are flowing above the danger mark in several areas. Lakhimpur district officials briefed the minister on the relief operation being conducted in the district. They told him that the water level has started receding. Heavy rainfall in the upper catchment area of Arunachal Pradesh, as well as Lakhimpur, increased the water level of all the 14 rivers and their tributaries in the district. Ranganadi, Dikting and Singra rivers swelled up after a huge quantity of water was released from NEEPCO dam in Yazuli, the district officials told Rijiju. A total of 431 villages in seven revenue circles have been inundated by the deluge and as many as 3,27,729 people are bearing the brunt of floods in Lakhimpur. “Twenty relief camps and 205 health camps have been set up in the district,” an official said. Rijiju asked the district administration to expedite the relief operation as there has been no rain in the last two days. He went through an initial report of the flood situation in the district and assured them of all possible assistance from the Centre. During his visit to Pasnoi village, Rijiju met the affected local villagers and promised them succour. Around 15 lakh people in 24 districts in the state have been hit by floods.