Flood situation turns grim in Assam, 1.89 lakh affected,15 deaths so far

Flood situation in Assam turned grim on Thursday, in which over 1.89 lakh people remained affected in 492 villages in nine districts.

Two deaths have been reported in the second wave of flood since Tuesday in Sivasagar and Dhemaji districts, taking the total deaths in floods this year so far to 15.

The Brahmaputra was flowing above the danger level at three places at Nematighat (Jorhat), Dhubri, and Tezpur while three other rivers Disang, Dhansiri, and Jia Bharali also crossed the danger mark, said a flood bulletin issued by Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).

Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Golaghat, Jorhat, Majuli, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts remained affected on Thursday. The situation is likely to worsen as heavy rain was continuing in most parts of Assam.

The bulletin said 49 relief camps have been opened in which 11,430 flood-hit people were taking shelter. Tinsukia district had 24 camps giving shelter to 9,487 persons.

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal took stock of the flood situation and asked the district officials to take all steps including the safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the relief camps.

The flood situation became grim amid the surge in COVID-19 positive cases including community transmission in Guwahati. The administration on Wednesday clamped lockdown in parts of Guwahati after more than 100 COVID-19 cases were reported in persons having no travel history. Assam's tally of COVID-19 positive cases touched 6370 of which 2400 were still active.

Flood hits Baghjan operation:

Heavy rains in the past three days and flood seriously affected the operation to douse the fire that broke out in the gas well of Oil India Limited at Baghjan in Tinsukia district.

"The area has been badly hit by flood and the site has been inundated with floodwater. The kill pump area is completely flooded. OIL CMT pump area is completely flooded. Dangori river has already started overflowing. All connecting roads to the site have been submerged with floodwater. There is only one connecting road which is narrow. The bridge between Doomdooma and Baghjan was damaged due to heavy rainfall and all movement over the bridge has been stopped and affected movement of men and materials over the bridge," OIL spokesperson Tridiv Hazarika said in a statement.

The gas well blew out on May 27 and caught fire on June 9. The experts are still struggling to douse the fire in the well.