GUWAHATI: Six more persons died on Monday as the Assam flood situation turned grim.
The deaths occurred in Lakhimpur, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Kamrup, Golaghat and Sivasagar districts. With these, the death toll rose to 50. Twenty-six others were killed in landslides earlier.
According to Assam State Disaster Management Authority, over 21.63 lakh people in 2,763 villages and localities across 27 of the state’s 33 districts have been affected so far. Standing crop affected was in areas of 1,03,806 hectares.
The floodwater breached river embankments and damaged bridges and roads in some districts. All major rivers such as Brahmaputra, Dhansiri, Burhi Dehing, Jia Bharali, Puthimari, Beki, Kopili, Sankosh, Subansiri, Pagladiya, Katakhal and Kushiyara were in a spate, flowing above the danger level at several places.
The authorities set up 480 relief camps in 20 districts where 60,696 people were taking shelter. Personnel of the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force besides the locals were engaged in rescuing people.
Meanwhile, almost the entire Kaziranga National Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its one-horned rhinos, was inundated. Till Monday, 47 animals died at the park due to various reasons including drowning and vehicle hits. The animals included one rhino, one wild buffalo, one swamp deer, three wild boars and 41 hog deer. The incidents of vehicle hits occurred on a national highway that passes beside the park.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal visited Rohmoria in Dibrugarh district on Monday and announced three schemes totaling Rs 25 crore towards finding a permanent solution to the problem of erosion caused by the Brahmaputra there.
Stating that flood and erosion are a perennial problem of Assam, he said the state government was working hard to solve it.
“A joint river management mechanism has been mooted with other states of the Northeast and Bhutan. Dredging in the Brahmaputra will take place as soon as the dredgers arrive,” he informed.