Assam: Eight more people die as flood situation remains grim

Guwahati: Eight more people lost their lives as the flood situation in Assam remained grim on Sunday, an official bulletin said.

Two deaths each were reported from Dhubri and Nalbari, and one each from Cachar, Goalpara, Dhemaji and Sivsagar, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) bulletin said.

With this, the toll in this year’s flood, landslide, and storm increased to 78.

Altogether 22,74,289 people in 28 districts were affected by the flood. Dhubri continued to be the worst-hit with 7,54,791 affected people.

A total of 269 relief camps were operating in the state, providing shelter to 53,689 people.

The Brahmaputra was flowing above the danger mark at Nematighat, Tezpur, and Dhubri.

Other rivers that have breached the red mark are Burhidihing in Khowang, Dikhou in Sivsagar, DIsang in Nanglamuraghat, Dhansiri in Numaligarh, Kopili in DHaramtul, Beki in Barpeta, Sankosh in Golakganj, Barak in BP Ghat and Kushiyara in Karimganj.

The toll in this year’s flood, landslide and storm is at 70, the sources added.

Among other severely affected districts are Cachar and Darrang, with over 1.50 lakh people hit in each of the districts.

Animals, including poultry, have also been affected in the deluge, with vast tracts of cropland also under water.

Damage to infrastructure, including roads and bridges, have also been reported from different parts of the state, the sources said.

Meanwhile, a total of 129 wild animals have died so far at Assam’s famed Kaziranga National Park due to the devastating flood, an official said on Sunday.

Till Saturday, 114 had died in the devastating flood that has affected the entire Northeastern state.

Among the dead animals are six rhinos, 100 hog deer, two sambar, and an otter. Drowning was the main cause of the deaths, while two animals also died after being hit by vehicles when they were migrating to higher ground, the official said.

The animals use a stretch of the NH-715 to cross over to the hills of Karbi Anglong.

Twenty of these animals died during treatment, the official said.

So far, 96 animals have been rescued. Among them were 84 hog deer, two each of rhino, sambar and scops owl, and one each of swamp deer, hare, rhesus macaque, otter, elephant and jungle cat.

At present, 26 animals are under medical care,

while 50 others have been released after treatment, the official said.