Flooding recedes in parts of Assam but six districts still inundated; toll rises to 41

Guwahati: The flood situation improved in Assam today as deluge waters receded from Udalguri, Barpeta and Biswanath districts, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said. According to ASDMA, flood waters receded from the three districts but entered Darrang district on Friday, taking the total number of deluge affected districts to six and the number of people affected to 87,742. The death toll in the deluge stood at 41 as no new death was reported on Friday, it said. On Thursday, eight districts and over one lakh people were affected by the flood. [caption id=“attachment_4888161” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image. AP[/caption] ASDMA also said the flood waters have overrun 153 villages in six districts - Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Golaghat, Sivasagar, Charaideo and Darrang. At least 2,000 marooned people in Golaghat district have been rescued by the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) which pressed into service 14 boats. The ASDMA also said that the deluge has submerged 6972.38 hectares of crop area in the six districts with 4852.18 hectares of it in Golaghat. At least 400 houses in Lakhimpur, Golaghat, Sivasagar and Charaideo districts were completely damaged, while another 277 partially destroyed by the swirling waters. The Brahmaputra river at Nimatighat in Jorhat, Dikhow at Sivasagar town, Dhansiri at Numaligarh in Golaghat, Jia Bharali at NT Road Crossing in Sonitpur and Beki at Road Bridge in Barpeta are flowing above the danger mark, it said. Submersion of roads due to rising water level of rivers, washing away of embankments, besides breaching of bridges and culverts have been reported, it said, adding erosion have been reported from Barpeta and Baksa districts. The district authorities are running 108 relief camps and distribution centres sheltering 24,152 inmates, the ASDMA said.