Assam is battling the twin disasters of floods and coronavirus. The flood situation continues to deteriorate with the number of deaths going up to 61. Most of the rivers in the state are in spate, and the India Meteorological Department has forecast more rain in the coming days.
Over 34 lakh people in 26 of the 33 districts in the state are affected by the devastating floods. The Brahmaputra and eight other rivers in Assam are flowing above the danger level.
According to the Assam disaster management body, 3,371 villages are under floodwaters and standing crops in 1.28 lakh hectares have been ruined. More than 44,000 have been moved to state relief camps.
Personnel of the State and National Disaster Relief Force have been moving stranded people to safety. Rescue work is being carried out late into the night also.
#AssamFloods2020 #TEAMNDRFINDIA?? of @1Ndrf carried out Night Flood rescue ops in village Bohrighat,Chenga Circle, Barpeta,Assam & evacuated 103 marooned villagers (M-38, F-27 & Ch-38)@NDRFHQ @HMOIndia @PMOIndia @BhallaAjay26 @PIBHomeAffairs @PIB_Guwahati @ANI @DDNewslive pic.twitter.com/3VGyfXqcNo
— ѕαtчα prαdhαnसत्य नारायण प्रधान ସତ୍ଯପ୍ରଧାନ-DG NDRF (@satyaprad1) July 15, 2020
The worst-hit districts in the state are Hojai, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Sonitpur, Udalguri, Darrang, Baksa, Nalbari, Barpeta, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Goalpara, Kamrup, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat, Majuli, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and Karbi Anglong.
Many roads, bridges, culverts and other infrastructure have been damaged in floods and landslides across the state. Over 80 per cent of the Kaziranga National Park has been inundated and 66 wild animals including two rhinos have died, the forest department officials said.
Assam: Due to floods, 80% of Kaziranga National Park is submerged in water. P Sivakumar, Director, Kaziranga National Park says, "So far, 66 animals have died and 170 animals were rescued." pic.twitter.com/sWhojRBUmG
— ANI (@ANI) July 15, 2020
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal visited localities in Dhemaji on Tuesday and reviewed the flood situation. He also took stock of the situation in Lakhimpur and his home constituency Majuli. Mr Sonowal has directed officials to expedite repair work of the embankments.
