3 Dead In Floods, Over 2 Lakh Affected Across The State

GUWAHATI: Three persons died in the last 24 hours in floods and landslides and over two lakh people have been affected across the State, officials said on Wednesday.

One person died under Bokakhat Revenue Circle in Golaghat district while another person died due to floods under Dhemaji Revenue Circle while another person was killed in a landslide under Dispur Revenue Circle in Kamrup (M).

The Revenue and Disaster Management Department has released Rs 21.03 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for the flood-affected people while another amount of Rs 4.50 crore will be released soon for Gratuity Relief (GR) purposes. Majuli district has received the highest amount of Rs 3.50 crore followed by Morigaon district (Rs 2.60 crore).

Meanwhile, the flood situation is expected to worsen as the meteorological department has predicted more rain in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland in the next four days.

Officials of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) on Wednesday said a total of 530 villages in Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Darrang, Barpeta, Nalbari Chirang, Majuli, Golaghat, Jorhat and Dibrugarh districts have been flooded, affecting some 200,000 people. Dhemaji and Lakhimpur districts are the worst affected.

Assam and other States in the region have been witnessing incessant rain since the last 48 hours.

The flood situation of Lakhimpur district has worsened as the management of the Ranganadi Hydro Electric Plant (RHEP) has been continuously releasing excess water from the Ranganadi dam since Monday last. The overflown water of the Ranganadi river has inundated several new areas in the downstream of the river under North Lakhimpur and Naoboicha Revenue Circles (RC) on Wednesday. The flash flood caused by the river due to the release of the excess water from the reservoir of the Ranganadi dam submerged more than 50 villages under the mentioned RCs.

The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been carrying out rescue and evacuation operations as well as providing relief materials to the affected people.

The water level of major rivers like the Brahmaputra, Dikhow, Dhansiri, Jia Bharali, Puthimari and Beki is above the danger mark.

The flood waters from the Brahmaputra have also entered some parts of the Kaziranga National Park, forcing the animals to migrate in search of higher ground.

“The flood waters have entered the park but the situation is under control. We are monitoring the situation closely and will implement the time card system for restricting the speed limit of vehicles on NH-27 as and when necessary,” said Kaziranga Divisional Forest Officer, Rohini Ballav Saikia.

A total of 13,276 hectares of agricultural land has been affected by the floods, officials said.

Ferry services between Guwahati and North Guwahati has been suspended from Thursday due to the rising water level of the Brahmaputra. On the other hand, the ferry services in Majuli have also been suspended.

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