Assam flood situation remains grim; 61 dead, over 7.05 lakh affected

The flood situation in Assam remained grim on Saturday, 25 July, even as the water level has started to recede in some parts, while 61 people have died of the deluge and over 7.05 lakh people are affected in nine districts, officials said.

According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) bulletin late on Friday night, 14 more people lost their lives in the deluge during the last 24 hours, taking the toll to 61 this year.

Two women drowned in flood waters in Charaideo; followed by six, including one woman, in Sivasagar; and one each in Jorhat, it added.

According to the authority's daily flood report, more than 7,05,100 people have been affected in Charaideo, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Hojai, Jorhat, Karbi Anglong, Nagaon and Sivasagar districts.

Sivasagar is the worst-hit district with nearly 3.5 lakh people affected, followed by Charaideo with almost 1.9 lakh people and Jorhat with more than 1.3 lakh people reeling under floodwaters.

The flood situation has improved marginally since Thursday, when over 7.21 lakh people were affected across 11 districts.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said his government is yet to deliver relief materials to at least 80,000 flood-affected people even as the situation remained critical with many rivers continuing to rise following incessant rains.

"We are making all efforts to reach all the people with relief items, but still many are left out. In Nazira assembly constituency, 30 per cent area or around 50,000 people are not reachable. In Sivasagar, 20 per cent of the area or 30,000 people are inaccessible. The count may be 10,000 more or less (from the 80,000 affected yet to be reached)," he said.

BJP MLA Mayur Borgohain painted a grim and helpless picture of the administration's flood relief efforts in Sivasagar district's Nazira subdivision during a review meeting.

He said the state machinery has not been able to reach the worst-affected areas of his Nazira constituency and around 30 per cent of the affected people are yet to receive any relief.

Dikhou river at Sivasagar, Dhansiri at Nanglamuraghat, Dhansiri at Numaligarh and Kushiyara at Sribhumi are flowing above the danger level.

Embankments, roads, bridges and other infrastructure have been damaged by flood waters in different districts of the state.

With PTI inputs