Flood misery in Assam worsens as toll nears 90

New Delhi: The flood situation in Assam deteriorated Wednesday as waters entered into new areas, killing two more persons and affecting over 26 lakh people, even as five deaths were reported in rain-related incidents in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

Bihar also battled floods with more than 4.5 lakh people affected in its 10 districts. But no death has been reported so far.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Director General S N Pradhan said a total of 16 NDRF teams have been deployed in Assam and 20 in Bihar.

Meanwhile, another spell of heavy rains, the second in four days, submerged many areas in waist-deep water and brought traffic to a standstill in the national capital.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the rains covered most parts of Delhi and the adjoining areas of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

In the flood-ravaged Assam, the situation deteriorated Wednesday with two more persons losing their lives, even as the number of people affected rose to over 26 lakh across 26 districts, an official bulletin said.

Till Tuesday, more than 24.19 lakh people were suffering due to the deluge across 24 districts. According to Wednesday flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), one person each died at Baghbor of Barpeta and Morigaon revenue circle in Morigaon district.

With this, the total number of people losing their lives in this year's flood and landslide has gone up to 115 across the state — 89 in flood-related incidents and 26 in landslides.

Goalpara is the worst-hit district with over 4.68 lakh people suffering, followed by Barpeta (3.82 lakh people affected) and Morigaon (3.08 lakh people).

At present, 2,525 villages are under water and 1,15,515.25 hectares of crop areas have been damaged across Assam, the ASDMA said.

The deluge has so far killed 120 animals, while 147 others were rescued in Kaziranga National Park, the bulletin said, quoting the forest officer of the Eastern Assam Wildlife Division.

The flood has also affected 23,89,401 domestic animals and poultry across the state, it added.

The Centre will soon release Rs 346 crore as an initial amount for handling the flood situation in Assam, an official statement said on Wednesday.

In Bihar, 4.6 lakh people in 10 districts have been affected by the floods which have displaced over 13,000 people, said a release issued by the state government.

There is no report of any loss of life in deluge anywhere in the state so far, the release said.

Rivers like Kosi, Budhi Gandak, Kamala Balan and Lal Bakeya are flowing above the danger level at many places, but showing a receding trend or are stable.

Normal life has been affected in large parts of 10 districts: Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Supaul, Kishanganj, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj, East Champaran, West Champaran and Khagaria.

"In Bihar, the situation was a little alarming yesterday because of the possible influx of almost 5 lakh cusecs of water into the Gandak river and also because of incoming water in other river systems of north Bihar," National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Director General S N Pradhan said.

Meanwhile, in Uttarakhand, three people were killed when their car was swept away by a swollen stream following heavy rains in Pauri district.

The mishap occurred about 5 km from Najibabad-Buakhal national highway towards Dugadda on Tuesday, Kotdwar police station SHO Manoj Raturi said on Wednesday.

In the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, two children drowned in a pit filled with water at Gurusandi village in Mirzapur district on Wednesday, police said.

Dev Narain Yadav (12) and Satish (8) had gone to graze buffaloes when the incident took place. They were sitting near the pit when they slipped into it, police said.

Rains also lashed Haryana and a few parts of neighbouring Punjab on Wednesday, causing maximum temperatures in the two states to remain well below normal limits. Chandigarh, the common capital, recorded a maximum of 31 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal, according to the Meteorological Department here.

Gurgaon received a heavy downpour. Light to moderate rains were witnessed in many parts of Rajasthan, while a few places received heavy rainfall, according to Met department.