Floods ravage Assam, thousands affected

Incessant rainfall for past couple of days has left the North Eastern state of Assam and parts of Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya reeling under floods and landslides.

At least 10 persons have lost their lives in Assam in recent days due to floods and around 4 lakh have been affected in 17 districts of the state. Around 23,000 hectares of crop area across the state have also been affected due to the floods. A high-alert has been sounded across the state and the air-force and the army have been kept at standby to join the rescue and relief operation whenever the need arises.

The districts that have been affected due to floods are Barpeta, Dhemaji, Jorhat, Golaghat, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Nagaon, Morigaon, Lakhimpur, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Nalbari, Bongaigaon, Chirang, Baksa and Sonitpur. The swollen Brahmaputra river is posing a serious danger to the Upper Assam town of Dibrugarh and evacuation operation in presently underway for people residing in areas close to the river.

Government sources informed that there had been at least two breaches in river Brahmaputra, one each in Dhemaji and Dibrugarh districts. The water resources department had been directed to coordinate with Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) for obtaining rainfall forecast data for the neighbouring States.

An emergency meeting was held on Tuesday, which was attended by the chief secretary, water resources minister and officials from Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) to take stock of the situation. Chief minister Tarun Gogoi, who is presently in the US, asked the state administration to evacuate people from vulnerable places and take the relief operation on a war-footing.

Torrential rainfall had also left many areas in the Guwahati city reeling under waist-deep water on Tuesday. Landslides had also claimed one life in the city on Tuesday. Landslides were also reported from Dima Hasao district of Assam and parts of Meghalaya. Train service between Lumding and Silchar had to be suspended in Assam following landslide in Dima Hasao district.

The river Brahmaputra and many of its tributaries and distributaires are presently flowing above danger mark at varound places in Assam. The Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger level at Dibrugarh, Neamatighat, Tezpur and Dhubri. Its tributaries like the Burhidihing, Dhansiri (South), Jia Bharali, Puthimari, Pagladiya, Manas and the Beki are also flowing above their respective danger marks at many places.The Brahmaputra is maintaining a rising trend in Tezpur, Guwahati, Goalpara and Dhubri.

With major rivers in spate, many districts in Arunachal Pradesh are also reeling under floods. The affected districts are Anjaw, Lohit, Changlang, Dibang Valley, East Siang and Upper Siang districts. The air-force has been pressed into operation to rescue people from remote and inaccessible places.