KAZIRANGA: Nine more people perished in the past 24 hours in the first wave of the flood in Assam, taking the death toll to 37 with two dying in landslides. The nine deaths occurred in Biswanath, Sonitpur, Morigaon, Udalguri, Bongaigaon and Barpeta districts.
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According to official sources, 53,52,107 people have been affected in 4,128 villages under 103 revenue circles of 28 districts. The affected districts were Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Sonitpur, Darrang, Udalguri, Baksa, Barpeta, Nalbari, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, South Salmara, Goalpara, Kamrup, Kamrup (M), Morigaon, Nagaon, Hojai, Karbi Anglong, Golaghat, Majuli, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Cachar and Karimganj.
As the rains have stopped, the flood water has started receding. However, there is no end to the flood victims’ plight. Among others, they are faced with an acute shortage of drinking water. Hundreds of families in some affected districts have continued to take refuge on boats where they are cooking, eating and sleeping.
The authorities have set up 689 relief camps where 2,25,737 flood victims were taking shelter. Altogether 391 relief distribution centres have been also set up.
The Brahmaputra and some of its tributaries were still flowing above danger level at some places. The sources said National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force were engaged in the affected areas for search and rescue operation.