Assam flood situation grim, seven dead

GUWAHATI, Sep 23 : The flood situation in Assam is grim with over 800,000 people affected in at least 15 of the 27 districts in the state, officials said on Sunday.

Officials said that seven people have died in floods in various places during the past one week. Over 700 villages have also been submerged in the affected areas, an official said.

The government has sounded an alert, as water level in most of the rivers in the state continue to rise owing to incessant rains in some upper Assam districts as well as in Arunachal Pradesh.

The flood situation is more serious in Kamrup, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur and Sonitpur districts, according to the official.

A total of 16 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), 60 Army teams and 18 teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have stepped up their relief and rescue efforts in some of the worst affected districts, the official said.

Four helicopters of the Indian Air Force and army have been pressed into service in the Sadia subdivision in Tinsukia district to air drop necessary food items and rescue marooned people. Ferry services have also been stopped at Sadia and Assam’s largest river island Majuli in Jorhat district as the Brahmaputra river is flowing above the danger level in many areas. Several villages have been submerged in Sadia and Majuli.

In lower Assam, too, flood waters have breached the Rangia-Goreshwar PWD road at Rangia in Kamrup district Sunday morning, an official said.

Parts of the Kaziranga National Park, Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary and Dibru-Saikhowa National Park have also been submerged.

Alert has been sounded in the Kaziranga National Park. At least 15 anti-poaching camps of Kaziranga have been submerged, forcing the security staff to shift to boats in order to keep an eye on poachers. Officials from Dispur said that Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger level mark in Dibrugarh, Nimatighat, Dhemaji, Tezpur and Dhansirimukh in Kaziranga.