Flood turns very critical; Half of Assam districts facing the wrath; one dies

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The flood situation in the state has turned very critical, with half of the total districts in the state facing the wrath of the deluge today, leading to the death of one person.

Apart from the Brahmaputra, several other rivers in the state—the Beki, Disang, Dikhou, Puthimari, Pagladiya, and Subansiri—are flowing above their danger levels in many stretches of the state.

According to CWC’s (Central Water Commission) bulletin, the Brahmaputra is flowing above its danger levels at Dibrugarh, Neamatighat, Tezpur, and Dhubri. The entire stretch of the Brahmaputra from Dibrugarh to Dhubri has been maintaining its rising trend.

The CWC report further said that the Subansiri River is flowing above its danger level at Badatighat in the Lakhimpur district, Dikhou in Sivasagar, Disang in Nanglamuraghat in the Sivasagar district, Puthimari at NH Road Crossing in the Kamrup district, Pagladiya at NT Road Crossing in the Nalbari district, and the Beki River at Road Bridge in the Barpeta district. A few other rivers—the Kopili and Burhidihing—have been maintaining a rising trend.

According to the flood bulletin of the ASDMA (Assam State Disaster Management Authority), as of date, 42 revenue circles in 17 districts in the state have been facing the wrath of the deluge. The districts are Biswanath, Chirang, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Jorhat, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Morigaon, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sivasagar, Sonitpur, Tamulpur, and Udalguri. The number of flood-affected people in the state has risen to 1,90,675, including 84,557 males, 67,955 females, and 38,163 children, in the past 24 hours. As many as 522 villages reel under flood water in the state today. The Lakhimpur district has the highest number of affected villages with 95, followed by Dhemaji with 76 villages and Sonitpur with 75 villages. As many as 62 villages have also been facing the wrath of the floods on the river island of Majuli. The ferry service between Neamatighat in Jorhat and Kamalabari in Majuli has been banned since yesterday.

The death of a person in the floods came from the Demow Revenue Circle in the Sivasagar district today.

The floods have also affected over 1.30 lakh livestock and poultry.

Meanwhile, waters from Bhutan washed away a concrete bridge, the Kalanadi Tiger Bridge, at Kumarikata in the Tamulpur district over the Kalanadi. Around 45 metres of the bridge were damaged.

Apart from Tamulpur, reports of infrastructure damage like bridges, approaches, Anganwadi centres, schools, protection bunds, culverts, electric poles, health sub-centres, irrigation canals, etc. keep coming from Baksa, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Morigaon, Nalbari, Sivasagar, and Udalguri. Reports of erosion are also coming from various districts. Flood waters have also inundated some areas of the Kaziranga National Park (KNP).

As a precautionary measure, the Inland Water Transport (IWT) Division, Ulubari, has ordered the suspension of ferry services, including boats and vessels, in Guwahati from August 29 until further orders.

Meanwhile, the RMC (Regional Meteorological Centre) in Guwahati has predicted light to moderate rainfall in various areas of the state in the next 24 hours. It has also predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall with lightning in some of the areas in the state during the next 24 hours.

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