Rains continued to lash most parts of Assam, affecting 7.18 lakh people across 27 flood-hit districts and causing widespread damage to private and public infrastructure besides inundating 63,970.62 hectares of cropland.
According to data provided by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) on Thursday, two people drowned in Nagaon district. Floods and landslides since May 14 have so far killed 11 people while seven others have been reported missing.
“So far, 80,298 people including 12,855 children have been shifted to 167 relief camps across the flood-affected districts,” an ASDMA spokesperson said.
A defence spokesperson said more than 900 people were rescued by the Army in central Assam’s Hojai, one of the worst-affected districts. Personnel of the National Disaster Response Force and other agencies have evacuated almost 7,000 others by boats.
Defence helicopters have also been used to evacuate 105 people where boats could not go.
Central relief
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who inspected Dima Hasao and other flood and landslide-hit districts on Thursday, said the Centre has sanctioned ₹1,000-crore for Assam to deal with the current flood situation.
“We have already released ₹150-crore to the district authorities. We have sufficient funds to deal with the situation,” he said, adding the State government has capped an air fare of ₹3,000 for people stranded in southern Assam’s flood-hit Barak Valley and has made a short-term arrangement with an airline to provide the subsidised service.
Villagers are being rescued by Indian army in flood affected Jamunamukh area in Hojai district of Assam on May 20, 2022. | Photo Credit: RITU RAJ KONWAR
Officials in Barak Valley, virtually cut-off from the rest of the country, along with Mizoram and Tripura beyond, said the three districts in the region have 22,000 metric tonnes of rice and fuel to last seven days.
The work on restoring railway communication in Dima Hasao district continued to be affected due to inclement weather causing more landslides along the track. “We have completed restoration in 12 locations but there are 46 more locations to go,” a spokesperson of the Northeast Frontier Railway said.
Such has been nature’s fury that a train stranded at the New Haflong railway station in Dima Hasao has almost been buried under the earth.
