Three more people drowned on Tuesday as the flood situation in Assam continued to remain grim, affecting more than 14.93 lakh people in 2,235 villages and localities across 23 districts.
Officials of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said the deaths were reported from Barpeta and Dibrugarh districts.
The death toll since May 22 has increased to 27 while 23 others were killed in landslides earlier.
ADVERTISEMENT
The deluge triggered by heavy rain has affected crop on more than 75,700 hectares of land and about 20 lakh domesticated animals and poultry.
Almost all the major rivers including Brahmaputra, Burhi Dihing, Dhansiri, Jia Bharali, Kopili and Puthimari were flowing above the danger level. The overflowing rivers breached embankments at several places to accentuate the disaster, damage vital roads and bridges, officials said.
“The districts have set up 265 relief camps in 21 districts where 25,461 people are taking shelter,” an ASDMA spokesperson said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Barpeta continued to be the worst hit district with 4.87 lakh people affected followed by South Salmara (1.95 lakh), Nalbari (1.04 lakh), Morigaon (98,804) and Goalpara (93,996).
More deer killed
More hog deer were killed as the water level in the partially-flooded Kaziranga National Park kept rising to inundate 143 of the 223 anti-poaching camps.
“A total of 14 animals — one rhino and 13 hog deer — have died so far due to flooding, vehicle hits and other reasons,” Kaziranga’s director P. Sivakumar said.