Flood situation in Assam remains unchanged

July 16, 2011 04:53 pm | Updated 04:53 pm IST - Tezpur/Lakhimpur

A paddy field submerged by flood waters in Assam. File photo

A paddy field submerged by flood waters in Assam. File photo

Heavy rainfall in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam for the last two days has affected Sonitpur, Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts of Assam submerging villages and hitting a population of over 1.50 lakh, officials said.

Rain-fed river Brahmaputra, its tributaries and other rivers flowing down from the upper reaches of Arunachal were causing the first wave of floods in Assam submerging 105 villages in Lakhimpur district affecting 1.25 lakh people, they said.

While the rising Humdiri river in Lakhimpur had overrun 15 new villages under Lakhimpur revenue circle overnight, the swollen Subansiri flowing down from the neighbouring state was rising menacingly breaching an agricultural embankment.

At least 20000 hectare of agricultural land had been covered by the flood waters damaging standing crops there, the sources said.

Four persons drowned on Friday when the Ranganadi embankment breached at Kharkati under Lakhimpur revenue circle.

In neighbouring Dhemaji district the deluge caused by the swollen Jiadhol river affected Kechukhana, Ghuguha, Lowmuri, Naruathan and other areas affecting 25000 people, officials said.

The surging waters overtopping the National Highway 52 connecting Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts with Arunachal closing traffic yesterday has, however, ebbed and movement of vehicles was restored on Saturday.

In Sonitpur district, the flood waters of Brahmaputra’s tributary Jiabhorali breached a major embankment at Gotaimari, submerging three villages and rendering 25 families homeless on Saturday.

Chatrang river overran Ward number four areas of Gohpur town inundating most of its low lying areas and of Brahmajan and Kalabari areas.

The Jiabhorali and Depota rivers were rising alarmingly and were feared to cross their danger levels soon unless the heavy rainfall ceased.

Meanwhile, the district administrations were on high alert and providing relief materials in the affected areas, officials added.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.