GUWAHATI: The Assam flood situation deteriorated on Wednesday as 10 more deaths were reported in the state, pushing the toll to 41 even as rescue efforts continued for the marooned.
The floods wreaked havoc in upper Assam. Sivasagar, Charaideo and Jorhat are the worst-hit districts. Twenty-one deaths were reported on Tuesday, 13 of them in Sivasagar.
The Indian Army is among agencies engaged in rescue operations. Army helicopters are carrying out aerial reconnaissance to locate people in isolated areas, while army engineers are supporting rescue efforts and restoring access to cut-off locations.
The Brahmaputra and its tributaries Buridihing, Dikhou, Disang and Dhansiri were in a spate. The state government advised people to stay away from the rivers wherever they were flowing above the danger level.
The IMD predicted moderate to heavy rainfall with thunderstorms in isolated places in Guwahati and elsewhere across the state over the next three to four days “due to current meteorological conditions and monsoon scenario” in the state.
CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, who visited some affected areas on Wednesday to take stock of the situation, said several localities in Sivasagar remained beyond the reach of even boats. He said the government was deploying drones to deliver essential supplies to ensure that no one went hungry or thirsty.
“We will stand firmly with every flood-affected family as one of their own. This is my and my government’s promise,” said Sarma, who undertook a speedboat survey of an area in the Sivasagar district.
In interactions with affected people, he assured them that the government would extend assistance for the reconstruction of damaged houses and restoration of normal life.
He posted on X that more than eight lakh people are affected. “The full extent of the damage is yet to be assessed, as several areas remain inaccessible. As these floods were triggered by a cloudburst upstream, we will work with the Nagaland government to strengthen our early warning systems and mitigation measures,” he said.
The July 19 cloudburst in Nagaland triggered landslides at many places in the state’s Mon district, killing nine people.
Meanwhile, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NF Railway) cancelled, diverted, short-terminated or short-originated several passenger trains in its Tinsukia Division in Assam.
“Owing to heavy rainfall in the upstream catchment areas, overflowing water of the Dikhow River flooded the Simaluguri town station and surrounding areas in the Sivasagar district under the Tinsukia Division,” NF Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Kapinjal Kishore Sharma said.
