20 perish in Assam floods, Majuli scene worsens

Assam's flood scene worsened today with 10 more people washed away, as many feared drowned and thousands rendered homeless across the state, where world's biggest inhabited river island Majuli is facing threat of complete submergence.

Officials said 10 people were washed away in Sonitpur and Jorhat districts today and put the toll at 20 in the floods that have affected 23 of the total 27 districts following incessant rains during the past few weeks.

The state government said all districts barring the hill districts of Karbi Anglong, North Cachar Hills, Kokrajhar and Buxa have been affected. The situation is worst in Majuli in Jorhat district which is threatened with complete submergence after Brahmaputra river breached an embankment this morning, sources said.

A 70-member National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team is on way from Kolkata to the island, which house several Vaishnavite monasteries, to help thousands of people stranded there following submergence of 70 villages and complete washing away of 30 others.

Road and rail communication to Barak Valley in south Assam and neighbouring states of Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura were cut off following landslides in Dima Hasao hill district and Meghalaya, the sources said.

In Lakhimpur, over two lakh people have been hit by flood in Brahmaputra and Subansiri rivers while in neighbouring Dhemaji, over 2.5 lakh people have been affected. Sources said flood waters have engulfed the entire Kaziranga National Park and animals are crossing NH 37, which passes through the park, to higher grounds in Karbi Anglong hills.

The Golaghat district administration said two deer and a wild boar were knocked down on the highway by vehicles and killed this morning. Section 144 CrPC has been imposed on the highway near the park and time tags issued to all vehicles to prevent poaching.