The death toll from floods in Assam has risen to 80 after two more fatalities were reported, while eight districts and over 2.12 lakh people remained affected, officials said on Friday.
The state government has announced a six-month moratorium on the repayment of all types of loans taken by flood-affected people and has sought a special support package from the Centre for relief and rehabilitation efforts following the severe flooding.
Officials said both latest deaths were reported from Sivasagar district, taking the toll from this year’s floods to 80.
Floodwaters continued to affect 21 revenue circles and 437 villages across eight districts, Golaghat, Sivasagar, Biswanath, Charaideo, Kamrup (Metropolitan), Jorhat, Dhemaji and Nagaon.
Around 2,12,400 people remain affected, with Charaideo being the worst-hit district with nearly 80,000 people impacted, followed by Sivasagar with around 71,000 and Jorhat with nearly 40,000.
The flood situation has shown improvement since Wednesday, when seven districts and more than three lakh people were affected.
The administration is currently running 112 relief camps and distribution centres across four districts, providing assistance to 75,583 affected people.
The Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Fire and Emergency Services, police and civil authorities are involved in rescue and relief operations.
Floodwaters have submerged 17,198.09 hectares of crop area across Assam, while embankments, roads, bridges and other infrastructure have suffered damage.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said a special meeting of the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC), attended by representatives from the Reserve Bank of India, NABARD, State Bank of India and other commercial banks, approved a relief scheme for borrowers affected by floods in Sivasagar, Charaideo, Jorhat and Golaghat districts.
“The SLBC has decided that a moratorium of six months will be offered to all flood-affected people in these districts,” Sarma said.
He added that banks could extend the loan repayment period from one year to up to seven years, depending on the nature of the debt.
The Chief Minister also said the state government had requested a relief package from the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT), which completed a four-day assessment visit to flood-hit districts in Upper Assam on Wednesday.
Sarma said Assam had urged the Centre to recognise the floods in Upper Assam as an “atypical, high-intensity, rapid-onset event” and allow flexible norms for damage assessment and assistance.
(With inputs from PTI)