Assam is reeling under floods and the situation worsened further during the past 24 hours with the number of people affected by flood shooting up to 15,18,365 in 2,498 villages under 82 revenue circles of 23 districts.
The Assam disaster management authority (ADMA) said that as many as 115 relief camps were set up by the local administrations in 10 districts during the past 24 hours with 48,483 flood-hit people taking shelter.
With the report of six more deaths during the past 24 hours, the total number of flood-related death in Assam during the current wave of flood has shot up to 37.
The ADMA bulletin said that total crop area of 1,40,837.42 hectares were damaged. Floodwaters affected over 8 lakh domestic animals, the report said.
The SDRF and NDRF deployed 70 boats on July 11 for relief and rescue. In all, 1245 marooned people were rescued by the agencies on the day from various flood-hit areas.
The official flood bulletin said that the districts of Lakhimpur, Bongaigaon, Darrang, Jorhat, Golaghat, Cachar, Dhemaji, Biswanath, Karimganj, Sonitpur, Majuli, Barpeta, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sivasagar, Morigaon, Chirang, Dibrugarh, Dhubri, Kokrajhar, South Salmara, Charaideo and Goalpara are hit by the current wave of flood.
ADMA stated that the Brahmaputra is flowing above danger levels at Dibrugarh, Neamatighat, Tezpur, Goalpara and Dhubri. Its tributaries Burhi Dihing, Subansiri, Dikhow, Dhansiri (South), Jia Bharali, Puthimari, Beki and Sonkosh are also flowing above their danger levels at Khowang, Badatighat, Sivasagar, Numaligarh, NT Road Crossing, NH Road Crossing, Road Bridge and Golokganj respectively.
In the Barak valley, the Kushiyara is flowing above its danger level at Karimganj, the state flood bulletin said.
The flood situation in Kamrup district worsened on July 11 as the water level of the Brahmaputra river crossed the danger mark in most of the villages of Palasbari, Goroimari, Chamaria, Nagarbera and Hajo revenue circles in Kamrup district, affecting over 40,000 families of 40 villages.
In Dhemaji, the surging waters of the Jiadhal, Kumatia, Gai, Bewra etc., rivers have inundated a number of villages in West Dhemaji, Bordalani, Gogamukh and Sissiborgaon areas.
Almost 70 villages under Gogamukh revenue circle were reported to be inundated by the current flood. The worst-affected villages include Na-Nadi, Gosaibari, Koupatani, Upar Chenia, Bam Chenia, Betbari, Bhebeli, Khana, Krishnapur, Sapekhati, Chutiakari, Phulbari, Chelajan and Kochbasti.
The Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC), a jointly run wildlife care facility of Assam forest department and International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) attended nine hog deer rescue cases in the present flood crisis in Kaziranga National Park on July 11. Of them, three were released back to the wild while two of the seriously injured deer died during treatment and three others were reported ‘dead on arrival’.
The current wave of floods affected normal life in Kaziranga National Park even as authorities and locals are working safe passage for the wildlife.
Even as the entire state, along with parts of Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, are reeling under flood situations, lack of initiative from the Centre has baffled the people of the region. While the Assam chief minister directed his cabinet colleagues to visit the flood-affected areas and take stock of the relief and rescue operations, media reports said that most did not turn up at their allotted areas for a first-hand inspection.
The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) demanded that the Union government to declare Assam’s flood and erosion as a national calamity. The student organization urged the Union government to initiate urgent methods to solve the problem.
