Flood situation in Assam remains grim, over 6.62 lakh persons affected

The flood situation in central and South Assam remained grim until late on Wednesday, with IAF helicopters used to air-drop essential items in Haflong, a hill station badly affected by the deluge since Friday.

Life in Haflong, the district headquarters of Dima Hasao district in central Assam was paralysed as road and rail communication with Guwahati remained disrupted even on Wednesday.

There was no internet and mobile phone network was snapped too. Only one operator's network was functional, a district official told DH over text message.

Ten relief camps have been set up, six in Haflong and two each in Maibang and Langting for those rendered homeless by flood and landslides, the official said.

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Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters in Guwahati that four metric tonnes (MT) of food items were air-dropped on Wednesday and another 12 MT food are likely to be air-dropped in Haflong on Thursday. "The elderly, children and women who are stuck there will be brought back to Jorhat and Silchar by IAF helicopters tomorrow," Sarma said.

"Efforts are under way to restore road communication between Jatinga and Haflong," he said.

The situation was bad in the neighbouring Hojai district and South Assam's Cachar district. "A portion of the highway connecting Cachar with Meghalaya has been restored," Sarma said.

The daily flood bulletin issued by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) on Wednesday evening said that number of people affected by the flood increased to over 6.62 lakh in 27 districts. The death toll due to floods and landslides rose to nine with one more casualty reported from Darrang on Wednesday. Five others are still missing. Over 48,000 people have been provided shelter in 248 relief camps.

Two columns of army and NDRF personnel were pressed into service on Wednesday in Hojai district, 300 people were rescued. Sarma said people from outside, who are stranded in Barak Valley (South Assam) will be flown back to Guwahati from tomorrow. "We have fixed the air fare at Rs. 3,000 (Silchar-Guwahati) and the additional expenditure incurred by the airline (FlyBig) will be borne by the government," he said.

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Chief Public Relations Officer of Northeast Frontier Railway, Sabyasachi De said train link with South Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura could not be restored yet as rains caused further landslides in the Lumding-Badarpur section. Landslides caused damage to tracks in 58 locations but restoration has been completed in 12 locations so far, he said.

Highlands in Kaziranga:

Assam forest minister Parimal Suklabaidya said the department has built 40 new highlands inside the Kaziranga National Park and other wildlife sanctuaries to allow wild animals take shelter during the flood. Kaziranga alone has 144 manmade highlands for shelter of wild animals. "The new highlands have been designed scientifically with provision for adequate grass, and plants yielding fruits such as elephant apple and Indian gooseberry," Suklabaidya said in a statement.

Many animals in Kaziranga, particularly rhinos and hog deer drown during the floods almost every year.