Assam flood toll rises to 31 as over 5.6 lakh people affected across 16 districts

The flood situation in Assam worsened on Tuesday, with 21 more deaths reported over the past 24 hours, taking the overall toll this year to 31, while more than 5.64 lakh people remained affected across 16 districts.

According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), Sivasagar district accounted for the highest number of fresh fatalities, with 13 deaths, followed by five in Charaideo, two in Golaghat and one in Jorhat.

The latest bulletin showed a sharp rise in the number of people affected, increasing from around 3.63 lakh across 15 districts on Monday to more than 5.64 lakh across 16 districts. In all, 872 villages spread across 44 revenue circles remain inundated.

Sivasagar is the worst-affected district, with 3,59,535 people impacted by the floods. Jorhat has reported 87,662 affected residents, while Charaideo has recorded 72,646.

Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is expected to visit the worst-affected districts from Wednesday to assess the situation and review relief efforts.

In a post on social media, Sarma said the floods, triggered by an upstream cloudburst, had caused severe hardship for residents. He said he would visit flood-hit areas and relief camps in Charaideo, Nazira, Sivasagar, Sonari, Jorhat and Teok to oversee rescue and relief operations.

Authorities have set up 71 relief camps, sheltering 12,284 displaced people, while 202 relief distribution centres are currently providing assistance.

The flood situation remains critical, with the Dikhou and Disang rivers flowing above the highest flood level at Sivasagar town and Nanglamuraghat. The Brahmaputra at Nematighat, the Burhidihing at Khowang, and the Dhansiri (South) at Golaghat and Numaligarh are also flowing above the danger mark.

Rescue and relief operations are being carried out by multiple agencies, including the Indian Air Force, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and Fire and Emergency Services.

Rail services continued to face disruption for a second consecutive day after floodwaters submerged railway tracks in parts of the state.

Northeast Frontier Railway said operations on the Simaluguri-Namtiali and Simaluguri-Selenghat sections have been suspended due to extensive flooding around Simaluguri town in Sivasagar district. Several trains have been cancelled, diverted or short-terminated, while additional special trains have been introduced to assist stranded passengers. Railway officials said the special services would operate until Friday, with some regular express services between Mariani and Guwahati continuing to run.

Meanwhile, the government said the Department of Telecommunications has activated the Intra-Circle Roaming facility in Sivasagar, Charaideo and Jorhat until 24 July to ensure uninterrupted mobile connectivity. The arrangement allows subscribers to access any available telecom network if their primary service provider's network is unavailable.

With PTI inputs