GUWAHATI: The flood situation in Assam has remained unchanged with the death toll standing at 52.
Thirty of the state’s 35 districts have been affected in both valleys – Brahmaputra and Barak.
While no human lives were lost in the floods in the past 24 hours, two persons died and one was injured in an incident of landslide in the Kamrup (Metro) district. The landslides also affected six villages in the hill district of Dima Hasao.
According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), the floods affected 24,20,722 people in 3,518 villages. Cropland affected was in areas of over 63,490 hectares.
The floods damaged roads, bridges and river embankments in several districts.
The authorities set up 612 relief camps and relief distribution centres. Altogether 47,103 of the marooned were taking shelter in the relief camps.
The ASDMA said 10 rivers – Brahmaputra, Burhidihing, Dikhou, Disang, Dhansiri, Jia-Bharali, Kopili, Barak, Katakhal and Kushiyara – were in a spate, flowing above the danger level.
The floods have inundated vast swathes of the Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve.
According to park authorities, three rhinos were among 77 animals which drowned. Eighty-five hog deer were among 94 animals rescued.
The Golaghat district administration has regulated the timing of commercial vehicles which use National Highway 715 along Kaziranga’s southern fringe.
The administration said commercial vehicles would not be allowed to ply on the Kaziranga stretch from 4 pm to 8 am. The administration allowed the movement of private and commercial passenger vehicles but at regulated speeds (upto 40 kmph) and “under piloting” by police and forest staff.
For the past few days, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has been visiting the affected areas to take stock of the situation.
“The ongoing #AssamFloods have displaced a lot of people who are now sheltered in relief camps. Visited one such camp set up in Tengakhat, Dibrugarh to oversee its facilities. Instructed immediate shifting of a sick person to AMCH & fresh clothes for the people sheltered there,” he wrote on X on Friday.
He said “Team Assam” was working round the clock to ensure timely relief and rehabilitation for the affected people.
“The floods and breaches in embankments at some places have caused severe distress to the people. We are constantly monitoring the situation,” he said.