Assam flood situation improves, five lakh still affected

Though water levels were receding in most rivers in Assam on Thursday, over five lakh people remained affected by floods in 11 districts of the state, officials said.

The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said in a statement that 5,16,303 people were affected in 606 villages in Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Dhubri, Bongaigaon, Sonitpur, Barpeta, Morigaon, Cachar, Goalpara and Nagaon districts.

One person died due to floods in Barpeta since Wednesday, the ASDMA said.

According to official statistics, 63 people have lost their lives in floods in the state so far this year.

While the Brahmaputra river was flowing above the danger level at Nematighat in Jorhat district and in Dhubri, the Dhansiri river was also flowing above the danger level at Numaligarh in Golaghat district.

Dhubri has the highest number of flood-affected people at 2,40,010, Morigaon has about 1,33,000 people affected by the floods.

A total of 118 relief camps have been set up in nine districts till Thursday, housing 37,679 marooned people.

"The flood situation has improved in the last few days due to lack of rain. Rivers, which were in spate, are showing a receding trend, and people in relief camps have started going back to their houses," said ASDMA chief executive officer P.K. Tiwary.

Floods have also affected national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, including the Kaziranga National Park.

Nearly 90 percent of the park area still remains under water, an official said, but added that waters have started receding since the last few days.

The first wave of floods hit the state in April, affecting over 17 lakh people in 21 districts.