Over 4 lakh affected by Assam floods

A man and a child were killed even as over four lakh people continued to reel under floods caused by surging waters of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries in Assam, an official said Tuesday.

While one person was killed due to floods in Golaghat district, a child was washed away in Lakhimpur district, an Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) official said.

He added that as of Tuesday, 899 villages under 42 revenue circles in Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Dhemaji, Jorhat, Lakhimpur, Sonitpur, Sivsagar, Morigaon, Dibrugarh, Kamrup, Karbi Anglong, Dhubri, Golaghat, Nagaon and Nalbari districts are under flood waters.

Over 80,000 people are living in 87 relief camps set up by the district administration concerned, the official said, adding that crops over 33,000 hectares had been damaged.

The flood situation remained grim in Morigaon district where the district administration has to make accommodation for over 70,000 affected people.

The state government has kept army on standby mode to help in rescue operations.

The flood waters have also entered Assam's Kaziranga national park and submerged over 80 percent of the area. Authorities said the water level in the park is, however, showing a receding trend Tuesday. They added a deer, a buffalo calf and an elephant calf have so far died due to floods in the park.

According to the Inland Water Department (IWT), the Brahmaputra river is flowing above the danger level at Jorhat, Tezpur, Goalpara and Dhubri.

The water levels of Dhansiri and Jia Bharali rivers are of concern at Numaligarh in Golaghat and in Sonitpur district respectively. Similarly, Kopili and Beki rivers are flowing above danger levels at Nagaon and in Barpeta districts respectively, IWT officials said.