GUWAHATI: Five more persons perished in the flood in Assam on Sunday which took the death toll to 102.
The latest deaths were reported from Morigaon (one), Barpeta (two) and Kokrajhar (two) districts. Twenty-six others were killed earlier in rain-triggered landslides.
The overall situation remained unchanged as major rivers such as Brahmaputra, Dhansiri, Jia Bharali, Beki, Kopili and Kushiyara were still flowing above the danger level.
According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, over 24.76 lakh people from 2,265 villages and localities across 23 of the state’s 33 districts were still reeling under the flood. Close to 46,000 of them were lodged in 457 relief camps in 18 districts.
The floodwater continued to breach embankments and damage bridges, roads and houses. Standing crop was under water in over 1.12 lakh hectares of land. Personnel of the State Disaster Response Force, police and locals were engaged in rescue operations.
At the Kaziranga National Park, 129 animals, including 14 rhinos, died till Sunday morning due to various reasons including drowning and vehicle hits. The incidents of vehicle hits occurred on a national highway that traverses beside the park.
Flood and river erosion have been Assam’s perennial problems. In the past, several organisations, including the All Assam Students’ Union, had raised the demand to declare these as “national problems”.
Last week, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the Centre had constituted a national committee that recommended the setting up of North East Water Management Authority under the chairmanship of NITI Aayog Vice Chairman to permanently solve the problems. He had also said that the Centre would take steps for passing an ordinance to this effect in the Parliament.