GUWAHATI: Onset of the southwest monsoon and the accompanying heavy rainfall in the last few days has resulted in the first wave of floods in the state, leaving at least 575 people including 97 children affected in three districts of Assam, according to official sources.
A bulletin released by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) on Tuesday said four districts, namely Biswanath district, Dibrugarh district, Golaghat district and Sonitpur district have been affected by erosion caused by the flood waters. Embankments and stone spurs, along with river banks, have seen erosion caused by the swelling waters in rivers in these districts in the last 24 hours.
ASDMA’s Monday bulletin had mentioned that three districts were affected- Biswanath, Udalguri and Cachar districts, with 2 embankments breached in Biswanath, Darrang and Lakhimpur districts.
The ASDMA bulletin said the flood has affected 10 villages in three revenue circles, inundating 150 hectares of cropland under the Gohpur revenue circle and the Kalaigaon revenue circle.
However, no river in the state was said to be flowing above the danger level till 8 AM of Tuesday.
The flood waters are reported to have damaged infrastructure, having breached five embankments, which includes three in Darrang district and one each in Lakhimpur district and Biswanath Sub-Division. It was also mentioned that seven roads have been damaged, while flood waters have inundated a few schools and Anganwadi centres as well.
Flood waters also damaged the approach road to the Lakhimpur Narayanpur bridge. The latest ASDMA flood bulletin said that the approach road to Bridge No 12/1 on Narayanpur Tatibahar Rongoti Simoluguri Road is eroded.
It was also reported by ASDMA that heavy rainfall that occurred in the last two days has led to flash floods in some parts of Silchar town in Cachar district.
Keeping in view the possibility of heavy rain and the resulting floods across the state, Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma held a video conference on Sunday in which the DCs and other senior officers of the state administration were directed to take all necessary steps, ramping up preparations for the upcoming floods and an efficient response system.
Principal Secretary of Revenue and Disaster Management Gyanendra Dev Tripathi was asked by the Chief Minister to initiate measures for prior positioning of NDRF and SDRF personnel in vulnerable places, especially in Dima Hasao district.
The Assam CM has also asked ASDMA to activate communication and early warning systems, in order to provide warning to the people ahead of the potential floods.
Meanwhile, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that widespread light or moderate showers at most places of the following states, with warning of heavy to very heavy rains of 115.5 mm to 224.5 mm expected at isolated places across Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, during the period from Tuesday to Saturday (June 13-17).
IMD has also forecast that Assam and Meghalaya are likely to witness isolated extremely heavy downpours of more than 224.5 mm are between Wednesday and Saturday (June 14-17).
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