Two killed, over 5 lakh remain affected in Assam floods

Two people were killed in Assam on Saturday even as the overall flood situation remained grim in the state with over five lakh people being affected in 13 districts and more areas were inundated by surging waters of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries.

Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ADSMA) officials said that as of Saturday evening, 5,02,813 people in 1,039 villages in Lakhimpur, Golaghat, Morigaon, Jorhat, Dhemaji, Sivsagar, Kokrajhar, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Nagaon, Dhubri, Dibrugarh and Chirang districts were affected.

Two people were killed due to floods in Lakhimpur and Morigaon on Saturday, the officials said. Earlier this year four people were killed due to floods in different districts, taking the toll to six this year.

"Over 70 relief camps have been opened by the districts administrations in eight worst-affected districts housing 21,549 people till Saturday," the officials said adding that the National Disaster Rescue Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Rescue Force (SDRF) forces have deployed over 40 boats to carry out relief work and rescue marooned people.

The ASDMA officials said that the Indian Army had also been pressed into service to help the marooned people in different flood-affected areas.

A total of 46,480.24 hectares of cropland have been submerged by flood waters in past few days, the officials said, adding the Dibru Choikhowa national park and Pabitora wildlife sanctuary have also been inundated.

The Assam government has suspended ferry service in many areas of the state including between Sadiya and Dhala, due to increasing water level in Brahmaputra, thus snapping communication network in many places.

--IANS

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