Assam floods: 14 people dead, over 800,000 affected in 29 districts

The flood situation in Assam further worsened on Friday, while the death of four more persons, including two children, took the toll to 14 in the current pre-monsoon floods and landslides and over 8 lakh people have been affected in 29 of the state's 34 districts, officials said.

Assam State Disaster Management Authority officials said that the four deaths were reported from Cachar (2), Nagaon, and Lakhimpur districts.

The Army, the Assam Rifles, the National Disaster Response Force, and the State Disaster Response Force, along with the district administrations, are working round the clock to rescue the stranded people and to provide relief to the marooned citizens.

UNICEF has deployed 7 teams of technical specialists and consultants to support the DDMAs of Cachar, Hojai, Darrang, Biswanath, Nagaon, Morigaon and Dima Hasao in monitoring flood relief camps in accordance with the relief camp management SOPs, assessing ground situation and needs, and supporting relevant stakeholders in strengthening the response activities.

According to an ASDMA report, 8,12,619 people, including 1,39,780 children, of 2,585 villages in 29 districts have been affected.

A total of 21,884 stranded persons have been evacuated with the help of disaster response forces and volunteers. In all, 343 relief camps and 411 relief distribution centres have been opened in all affected areas.

A total of 86,772 people are staying in the relief camps.

Over 81,920 hectare of crops have been affected in the ongoing pre-monsoon flood.

Several Ministers, including Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Jogen Mohan, Health Minister Keshab Mahanta, Water Resources Minister Pijush Hazarika, and Environment and Forest Minister Parimal Suklabaidya, camping in the flood-ravaged areas to supervise the rescue and relief operations.

The worst-affected districts include Nagaon, Cachar, Karimganj, Hojai, Darrang, Charaideo, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Bajali, Baksa, Biswanath, and Lakhimpur.

The situation in the hill section of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) in Dima Hasao district remained critical on Wednesday as rain continued to batter the area, affecting the Lumding-Badarpur single line railway route, which connects Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and the southern part of Assam with the rest of the country.

According to NFR's Chief Public Relations Officer, Sabyasachi De, the Lumding Division, in association with district authorities of Hojai, ran a special train for the relief and rescue of flood-affected people of the district recently. Consisting of three coaches, this flood relief train ran from Hojai to Jamunamukh, carrying food and essential materials for the flood affected people, who were taking shelter in make shift tents beside the railway tracks in the Hojai-Jamunamukh section.

Defence spokesman, Lt. Colonel Angom Bobin Singh said Army and Assam Rifles personnel have continued Arescue operations in various parts of Assam.

--IANS

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