Assam floods: Death toll jumps to 60 in third wave; over 25.93 lakh people affected

Guwahati: The floods in Assam claimed 11 more lives on Friday even as the authorities said there were some “signs of improvement” in the overall situation. According to a report by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), three persons died in Dhubri, while two lives were lost in Morigaon in flood-related incidents. One person each died in Baksa, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, South Salmara, Kamrup, and Kokrajhar districts due to the floods, it said. [caption id=“attachment_3947043” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] The third wave of flood has so far claimed 60 lives in the north-eastern state. With Friday’s casualties, the toll in flood-related incidents in 2017, in Assam has gone up to 144, including eight in the state capital of Guwahati. The ASDMA said 25.93 lakh people were affected by the floods in the state. As per its report, Morigaon is the worst-hit district with 5.29 lakh affected people, followed by Dhubri where 4.76 lakh people are hit by the floods. As many as 2,210 villages were under water and 1.23 lakh hectares of crop area was inundated and damaged, it said. The authorities have set up 488 relief camps and distribution centre in 17 districts, where 90,566 people have taken shelter. Nearly 1,300 people had been evacuated to safer places by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and various district administrations, the ASDMA said. The floods had damaged embankments, roads, bridges etc. in several districts, it said, adding that heavy erosion had been reported from Biswanath district. The Brahmaputra river was flowing above the danger mark at Nimatighat in Jorhat, Goalpara and Dhubri towns, it said. Other rivers such as the Dhansiri at Numaligarh in Golaghat, Jia Bharali at NT Road Crossing in Sonitpur, Kopili at Dharamtul in Nagaon and Beki at Road Bridge in Barpeta were flowing above the danger mark, the ASDMA added. Vast forest areas in the Kaziranga National Park, Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, and Lawkhua Wildlife Sanctuary were under the flood waters, it said.