Death toll in Assam flood and landlsides touch 43, Amit Shah takes stock

Two more persons died in flood in Assam's Dhemaji and Udalguri district on Sunday while a college student was buried alive following a landslide in Guwahati on Saturday night.

This took the death in flood and landslide this year to 43, of which 20 were related to flood.

As flood, erosion, and landslide was creating a sense of fear amid the Coronavirus pandemic, home minister Amit Shah called up Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Sunday and took stock of the situation.

Also Read | Thousands in Assam caught between flood and Covid-19 fear, death toll due to flood reach 20

"Sonowal apprised the home minister about the steps taken to tackle flood situation as well as the measures to avoid Coronavirus infection in the flood relief camps. Shah assured every possible help to the state government to tackle the natural calamity," said a statement issued by the Chief Minister's office on Sunday evening.

According to the daily flood bulletin issued by Assam State Disaster Management Authority, 9, 26,059 people remained affected by flood in 23 of the state's 33 districts. A total of 27,308 people were forced to leave their homes and were taking shelter in 193 relief camps.

Also Read | Assam flood situation remains grim; 38,000 affected, 1 more dead

The bulletin said 2,071 villages were inundated in Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Udalguri, Darrang, Nalbari, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, South Salmara, Goalpara, Kamrup, Morigaon, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat, Majuli, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, and West Karbi Anglong districts on Sunday.

The Situation was unlikely to improve soon as the Brahmaputra was flowing above the danger level at Nematighat (Jorhat), Tezpur, Guwahati, Goalpara, and Dhubri. Many tributaries across Assam were also flowing above the danger mark.