Two more people drowned on Wednesday, taking the toll in Assam’s delayed floods to five. According to an update by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), one person each died in Barpeta and Majuli districts. These two are among 22 of the 34 districts reeling under floodwaters. Officials said the floods have so far affected 6,47,606 people.
, about 2.18 of them being women and 1.64 lakh children. More than 3,580 among the flood-affected have moved into 85 relief camps set up by the local authorities.
Worst affected districts
During the last 24 hours, Nalbari and Darrang surpassed Lakhimpur as the worst affected districts. While 1.11 lakh people have been temporarily displaced in Nalbari, the number of such people in Darrang and Lakhimpur is 1.08 lakh and 1.04 lakh respectively.
Several rivers, including the Brahmaputra, were flowing above the danger level and incessant rainfall has continued to make them swell, officials said.
On the brighter side, the crop area affected reduced by about 400 hectares from the 39,831 hectares on Tuesday.
The flood level at the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve remained constant for the third straight day though two more animals died on Wednesday. Of the 11 hog and swamp deer that died, seven were run over by vehicles on the national highway between the flooded park and the relative safety of the hills.
“About 70% of the park is under water and 136 of the 223 anti-poaching camps are inundated but only two have been vacated,” a park official said.
Wasnik criticises Prime Minister
In Guwahati, Congress general secretary and former Union Minister Mukul Wasnik criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not being serious enough about the situation as the elections are over.
“Had there been an election approaching, the PM and Home Minister Amit Shah would have visited to the State and announced crores of rupees as assistance,” he told journalists.
