Over 4 lakh hit in Assam floods, death toll rises to 8

Guwahati/ Silchar: The flood situation in Assam turned grim on Tuesday with the number of affected people increasing to four lakh. In Arunachal and Meghalaya, landslides wreaked havoc by cutting off road connectivity to the hill states.
About 4.03 lakh people were affected by floods in 26 districts of Assam in the last 24 hours, the Assam State Disaster Management Agency (ASDMA) said. The death toll in the state has gone up to eight in the last four days as one more casualty was reported from Udalguri district on Tuesday. Home minister Amit Shah called CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and enquired about the flood situation. “Expressing concern over problems faced by citizens, he (Shah) said Central Government is ready to extend all possible help to Assam in this moment of natural calamity,” Sarma tweeted.
In Cachar, 96,697 people were hit by floods, followed by 88,420 in central Assam’s Hojai district. Over one lakh people have been hit by floods in Darrang and Nagaon districts. Nearly 1100 villages have been marooned, while around 33,000 hectares of crop area have been inundated, the ASDMA said. About 40,000 people have taken shelter in 89 relief camps across seven districts. Altogether 3,427 villagers were rescued by boats on Tuesday. In Cachar, more villages were inundated by the overflowing Barak and its tributaries on Tuesday. “Katigorah and Borkhola are the worst hit circles of the district. People across 206 villages have been affected,” said Cachar deputy commissioner Keerthi Jalli. She added that there is sufficient storage of essential food items.
Landslides at different locations along NH 6 in Meghalaya and the Lumding-Badarpur Hill section of Northeast Frontier Railway have cut off surface connectivity to South Assam with the rest of the country for the fourth consecutive day.