GUWAHATI: Ten more persons, including two children, perished in the Assam floods in the past 24 hours since Sunday. According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), the deaths were reported from Cachar (1), Darrang (3), Dibrugarh (1), Hailakandi (1), Hojai (1), Kamrup (1) and Nagaon (2) districts.
With these, the death toll in rain-induced floods and landslides in the Northeast has risen to 119 – 81 in Assam, 32 in Meghalaya and six in Arunachal Pradesh. Seven persons were reported missing in Assam on Monday.
The ASDMA said over 41.69 lakh people in 4,660 villages of 32 of Assam’s 35 districts are affected. Cropland in over 1.03 lakh hectares is also under flood waters. Rivers such as Brahmaputra, Beki, Puthimari and Kopili were in a spate, flowing above the danger level. Nearly 2.32 lakh of the marooned were taking shelter in camps.
Two police personnel, including the officer in-charge of a police station, were washed away by the swirling floodwaters. The bodies were retrieved later. Sub-inspector Samutjal Kakati and constable Rajiv Bordoloi had gone to a village to rescue the flood victims when the tragedy struck the duo.
Director-General of Police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta mourned the deaths. Roughly 18% of the famous Kaziranga National Park has been flooded, official sources said. Fifty-five of its 223 camps are inundated. So far, seven hog deer and one leopard have died due to various reasons.