10 more deaths in Assam floods; infrastructure crumble

As many as 10 more deaths were reported due to the current wave of floods in Assam in the past 24-hours while the number of affected people mounted to 57.51 lakh on Wednesday.

This took the death toll to 30 of which 28 were related to floods and two in landslides. The 10 deaths were reported from Sonitpur, Udalguri, Kamrup (metro), Morigaon and Nagaon districts.

The daily flood bulletin issued by Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said 1,51,947 flood-hit people were taking shelter in 427 relief camps. Although there was a slight decrease in water level, the Brahmaputra was still flowing above danger level in at least five places.

The water level in Kaziranga National Park started falling but the number of animal deaths increased to 51 including five rhinos and one elephant. Another 57 animals were rescued from floodwater.

Crumbling infrastructure

Assam government on Wednesday said the assessment carried out so far revealed that the damaged caused by the current wave of floods included 2,300 schools, 18 embankments, bridges, culverts, irrigation projects and over 1.73 lakh hectares of cropland in 32 of the state's 33 districts. "We have asked all the departments to start the post-flood restoration work immediately so that we can complete the repair work within six months. We have asked the district administration to release the compensation for the destruction of houses and others within three months. We have sufficient amount of money to carry out the restoration work and the compensation," cabinet minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said here after a review meeting.