Five dead in flood & landslides in Assam, over 1.92 lakh people affected in 20 districts

Five persons have died due to flood and landslides in Assam since Friday as over 1.92 lakh people remained affected in 20 districts on Monday.

Central Assam districts like Dima Hasao, Hojai and Cachar in South Assam remained worst affected as rains and landslides wrecked havoc with railway lines getting washed away at several stretches in Lumding-Badarpur hills section.

"Around 1,600 railway passengers who were stranded at Ditokcherra station in Dima Hasao have been rescued since yesterday and were sent to Badarpur and Silchar. Out of the 1,600 passengers, 119 were evacuated by the Indian Air Force helicopters," chief public relations officer of Northeast Frontier Railway, Sabyasachi De said in a statement on Monday evening. Incessant rainfall on Monday triggered further landslides making the rescue and restoration efforts more difficult.

De said continuous rains has caused landslides in at least 53 locations in Lumding-Badarpur section. "New Haflong station is completely inundated with debris. The empty passenger train standing at the station was washed away from the tracks due to a massive landslide." Railways is now putting all its efforts in restoring the damaged lines and re-starting the train services to South Assam, Manipur, Tripura and Mizoram.

A flood bulletin issued by Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said on Monday that over 32,900 people affected by flood and landsldies have been provided shelters in 67 relief camps in Biswanath, Dima Hasao, Hojai, Karbi Anglong West, Nagaon and Udalguri districts so far.

Two persons died due to flood in Cachar district in the past 24-hours, while three more died in landslides in Dima Hasao district on Saturday.

The Brahmaputra and the Kopili rivers were flowing above danger levels at Nematighat and Kampur in Jorhat and Nagaon districts respectively.

The situation is unlikely to improve anytime soon as rain continued in many places across Assam and the meteorology department predicted more rains.