Assam flood situation worsens; 3 dead, over 2 lakh affected

GUWAHATI: Assam is reeling under a ‘severe flood situation’ as two persons drowned on Wednesday and 1.4 lakh more people were hit in less than 12 hours from 62,000 people, who were reported affected on Tuesday. Another person died in Guwahati due to landslide earlier in the day.
The number of affected districts also increased from eight to 11 overnight on Wednesday in the second wave of flood in the state that started a couple of weeks back. The army said that it is on standby to react to any emerging situation.
The Assam State Disaster Management Authority said that 530 villages in 24 revenue circles of 11 district - Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Darrang, Barpeta, Nalbari, Chirang, Golaghat, Majuli, Jorhat and Dibrugarh of Assam - have been affected in the second wave of flood. It added that three persons have lost their lives due to flood and landslide in Kamrup (M), Golaghat and Dhemaji and so far a total of 2,07,098 number of population have been affected in the flood in these 11 districts.
Lt Gen Manoj Pande, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Gajraj Corps, called on the chief minister Sarbanda Sonowal and informed that the flood situation is being continuously monitored and flood relief columns are on standby to react to any emerging situation, defence PRO Lt Col P Khongsai said.
According to the Central Water Commission (CWC), which has flagged a ‘severe flood situation’ in the entire state, based on readings of water levels of the state’s major rivers, including the Brahmaputra, issued an advisory, its second in two days, stating that “In view of the rainfall forecast in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya, there is likely to be further increase in water levels in the river Brahmaputra and its tributaries such as Siang, Lohit, Buridehing, Desang, Debang, Dikhow, Subansiri, Jia-Bharali, Dhansiri (S), Kopili, Pagladiya, Puthimari, Beki, Manas, Aie, Champamati, Gaurang, Sankosh in Arunachal Pradesh, and Assam.”
The state disaster management authority stated that Brahmaputra river in Jorhat and Sonitpur, Dikhou in Sivasagar, Dhansiri in Golaghat, Jia Bharali in Sonitpur and Beki River in Barpeta districts are flowing above danger level.
“NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) and SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) teams have been pressed into service in the flood-affected areas for search and rescue operations. At present 13 camps are operational in Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Golaghat and Jorhat districts with 249 inmates and 10 relief distribution centres in Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Golaghat and Jorhat,” it said.
The met department has forecast “heavy to very heavy rainfall with isolated extremely heavy rainfall” in Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh on July 12 and 13.