Grim flood situation leaves Assam in disarray

Fresh areas inundated after heavy rain

The flood situation in Assam remained grim on Saturday even as incessant rains that continued over the week has lost strength.

Fresh areas have been in undated in the state due to massive rainfall over the week in the hills of neighbouring as Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Bhutan, triggering flash floods in plain areas.

Over 6.55 lakh people of 17 districts of the state are marooned and at least 8 people have died.  Six others are feared drowned.

The Brahmaputra is flowing above danger mark in Kamrup, Tezpur, Jorhat and Dhubri districts and several rivers are in full spate for a week in lower Assam where floods caused maximum destruction.

With nearly 13,000 hectares of standing crops submerged, over 1400 villages in the states are flooded. According to the State Disaster Management Authority sources, over 1.90 lakh people are housed in 270 relief camps, of which 164 are in Kokrajhar district.

Nearly 2000 people have been evacuated by NDRF, SDRF and Indian Army personnel  in lower Assam ,sources added.

Meanwhile, Revenue minister Bhumidhar Barman and Water Resources minister Basanta Kumar Das visited Kokrajhar to take stock of the situation on Saturday. In Meghalaya, road connecting Garo Hills to the rest of the state has been restored. 
The National Highway 44 that connect Mizoram, Tripura and Barak valley of Assam to the rest of the country has been cleared for traffic in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district after several massive landslides in past three days.

Manipur cut off

In Nagaland National Highway-2, the lifeline of Manipur connecting it with Nagaland’s capital Kohima and onwards to Assam has been cut off as incessant rain has triggered massive landslides near Kohima. Hundreds of vehi-cles bound to Imphal are stranded.

In Arunachal Pradesh, the flood situation remains grim.  The worsted effected are Namsai and Lohit districts where major rivers are flowing above the danger mark.
Many low-lying areas in both the districts are inundated. Surface Communication between Namsai and Tezu via Alubari as well as Pursuram Kund has also been disrupted, sources added.

The water level of Noa Dihing and its tributaries has risen causing a flood-like situation in the low lying areas of Namsai district particularly at New Silatoo, Dharampur, Lekang Gohain Gaon, Dirak Miri, Ranjalibeel, Rajabeel and Philobari under Lekang circle, an official report said on Saturday.