Assam floods: Death toll reaches 121, over 25 lakh affected
In the past 24 hours, at least four more citizens, including two children, have died in floods in Assam, bringing the total number of deaths to 121. Barpeta, Cachar, Darrang, and Golaghat districts each reported one death. Despite a slight improvement in the flood situation in Assam on Saturday, over 25.1 lakh people were still affected in 2,894 villages across the state's 27 districts.
- While floods are normal in Assam during the monsoon months, they arrived early this year and have been creating havoc since last month.
- However, the flood situation recently turned worse with most regional rivers, including the Brahmaputra, flowing above danger marks, inundating huge areas and causing damage and destruction to life and property.
- Since Saturday, the situation has started to improve marginally.
According to an Assam State Management Disaster Authority (ASDMA) bulletin, the total population affected by the floods has decreased to 25.10 lakh in 27 districts, down from 33.03 lakh in 28 districts the previous day. As rivers receded, the situation improved slightly in some districts. However, the Brahmaputra at Dhubri and the Kopili river in Nagaon were still flowing above the danger mark.
Several areas continued to be inundated for the seventh straight day in Cachar's Silchar town, where the flood situation remained dire. Over two lakh people were severely affected by floodwaters caused by a breach in an embankment near Bethukandi on June 17, about four kilometers from Silchar. Though the Barak River, which runs through Silchar town, is receding, the people's plight remains unchanged.
The ASDMA had sent two drones to Silchar town to map flood inundation and provide relief items in inaccessible areas. In Silchar, eight National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams from Itanagar and Bhubaneswar and an Army team from Nagaland's Dimapur were deployed. People sought refuge on embankments and highways since areas remained inundated with no electricity or drinking water for seven days.
Himanta Biswa Sarma, the Chief Minister of Assam, was accused of hosting rebel Shiv Sena MLAs in Guwahati in order to aid a coup against Maharashtra's CM Uddhav Thackeray. On Sunday, he dismissed the accusations, saying that his "priority" was the welfare of the Assamese people. "People in Assam know my priority. People are extremely happy with the government," Sarma reportedly stated on Sunday.
Devastating floods caused by incessant rain have continued to ravage Assam, leaving approximately thousands of villages submerged. Barpeta is the worst-affected district, with over 7.50 lakh people impacted, followed by Nagaon, which has 5.11 lakh people affected, while Kamrup still has nearly four lakh people affected. The victims of the flooding earlier said that they have surrendered to God.
The villagers, who lost everything in the flood, recently said that the concerned district authorities didn't provide them with any relief materials despite assurances from the government. The majority of villagers were surviving on their remaining meager rations and by fishing in the floodwaters.
The latest disaster management report mentions that nearly 2.33 lakh people are currently lodged in 637 relief camps while seven people are missing. As many as 11,67,219 children from 4,941 villages have been affected. A total of 80,346 hectares of land is still affected by the deluge on Sunday, down from 1,13,485.37. Additionally, more than 12,000 people have been evacuated from the affected areas.
