Assam flood: State govt seeks Rs 500-cr interim aid from

The Assam government has sought interim relief of Rs 500 crore for repair and rehabilitation works in the flood-affected areas of the state even as 8.3 lakh people were today said to be affected by the crisis that has so far claimed 13 lives.
"We will seek Rs 500 crore as interim relief from the Centre... Many areas are still under water, so the final assessment of damage will take some time," Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told a press conference here.
The state government, he said, has adequate funds for immediate relief operations, but central assistance will be required to carry out repair of damaged infrastructure.

The Centre is, however, yet to release the funds sought by the state government following a spell of floods last year.
As to the current flood situation, Gogoi said rainfall had stopped at most places in the state and the water level was slowly receding.
"As soon as the water level goes down, we will start assessing the damage to roads, embankments, bridges and other vital infrastructure," said Gogoi.

Meanwhile, the daily bulletin from the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said that 8.33 lakh people have been hit by floods in 984 villages across the state.
The affected districts are Dhemaji, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh, Bongaigaon, Sonitpur, Barpeta, Jorhat, Goalpara, Morigaon, Dhubri, Kamrup, Golaghat and Nagaon, where nearly 50,000 hectares of crop land has been inundated, it said.

Dhubri is the worst-hit, with over 3.8 lakh people affected by the flood, followed by Bongaigaon with more than 1.4 lakh distressed people, ASDMA said.
Authorities are running 164 relief camps in Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Dhubri, Morigaon, Nagaon, Barpeta, Sonitpur and Kamrup districts where nearly 1.6 lakh people have taken shelter, it said.
The Brahmaputra river is flowing above the danger mark at Nematighat in Jorhat district, Goalpara and Dhubri towns.
Besides, Jia Bharali at NT Road crossing in Sonitpur, Puthimari at NH Road crossing at Kamrup and Beki at Road Bridge in Barpeta are also flowing above the danger marks.

In the last 24 hours, flood waters have damaged at least five roads in Dibrugarh, Sonitpur, Goalpara and Nagaon districts, while two bridges were damaged in Sonitpur.
The current floods has claimed 13 lives across Assam, taking the toll in this year's two waves of flooding to 18.