Assam again gets groped in the shackles of floods; 5 districts gets submerged affecting around 78,275 people

Guwahati, October 2: A fresh wave of floods has hit Assam, submerging five districts and affecting 78,275 people, an official said today. Northeast had suffered due to heavy rainfall this year. Nearly 16,000 animals and poultry had also been affected, added the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) official. Rains across the state and in neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya have caused flooding in the districts of Lakhimpur, South Salmara, Goalpara, Hojai and Karbi Anglong. 

Earlier Assam engulfed in the horrors of massive floods where around more than 3 Lakhs people got affected. Triggered by heavy rainfall, Assam witnessed heavy floods for the third time this year along with Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Meghalaya.

At least 86 villages in seven revenue circles had been affected by the fresh wave of deluge with Goalpara on the Assam-Meghalaya border being the worst-hit, an ASDMA report said. As many as 41,479 people were affected in Goalpara, followed by 29,594 in South Salmara, it added.

The Dhansiri river at Numaligarh in Golaghat was flowing above the 'danger' mark, according to a Central Water Commission (CWC). The administration of the flood-hit districts had set up 18 relief camps, where 9,994 people had taken shelter, the ASDMA said. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) had rescued 30 marooned people from Goalpara, where an embankment at Khorija Manikpur was damaged, the ASDMA said, adding that roads and culverts were damaged at various places in the five districts.

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has directed the deputy commissioners of the flood-hit districts to step up the rescue-and-relief operations and ensure a stock of adequate relief material for the marooned people. He has also asked the deputy commissioners to ensure the availability of all the essential items at the relief camps, besides making all-out efforts to provide food, drinking water, baby food, fodder and medical help in the flood-hit areas, a government release said.

Earlier data reveals that when the monsoon hit northeast earlier, total of 354,326 people have been affected in the 15 districts while close to 14,000 people have taken shelter in 45 relief camps opened by the authorities, the officials said. Floods have ravaged Assam since April, uprooting over 25 lakh people in 29 districts and leaving 76 people dead.