While We Outrage Over Petty Issues, 37 Lakh People Have Been Affected By Floods In Assam

The monsoons have lashed with all their fury in Assam, as the flood situation remained grim, with the death toll rising as high as 29! Around 36-37 lakh people across 28 districts have been affected by the floods and at least one person each died at Kalgachia in Barpeta district, Dalgaon in Darrang district and Lakhipur in Goalpara district.

Not only people, the floods have also damaged nearly two lakh hectares of crop area (which is submerged under flood waters) while a number of roads, embankments, bridges and other infrastructure have also been washed away.?

Despite repeated demands from the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), that the Assam floods be declared a national problem, the Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, said a concrete action plan should be chalked out to tackle the issue of floods in Assam. Merely declaring the floods in Assam a national problem or a national calamity would not solve the problem.

Accompanied by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, the Union Minister, took an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas in Nagaon, Morigaon and Kaziranga, to take stock of the situation in the State.

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He remarked that the situation in Assam was indeed very grave. He confessed that it was a big challenge for the government to combat the situation and appealed to all social organisations and NGOs to lend their support. However, he also noted that this was the first time that all the lawmakers had reached out in the affected areas and provided help to those affected - by providing them relief material.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, “What is needed is an action plan to find out what causes the floods and how we can prevent it”. ?

Instead of announcing a flood package, he asked the Sarbananda Sonowal government to utilise money from the State Disaster Response Fund to combat the situation. “I have asked them to spend it without any hesitation. If more fund is needed, we are there and we will help in every possible way,” Singh told reporters at a press conference at Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (LGBI) airport in Guwahati.?

The state government currently has Rs 620 crore under SDRF which will help the affected people tackle the situation in State. Singh also advised the state government to repair the embankments damaged by the floods on a priority basis.

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The affected districts are Lakhimpur, Golaghat, Jorhat, Bongaigaon, Dhemaji, Barpeta, Goalpara, Dhubri, Darrang, Morigaon, Sonitpur, Nalbari, Sivasagar, Kokrajhar, Dibrugarh, Biswanath, Kamrup Metropolitan, Nagaon, Kamrup, South Kamrup and Karbi Anglong.

Morigaon is the worst affected with nearly 3.5 lakh people hit, followed by Darrang and Goalpara where around 1.4 lakh and 1.38 lakh people are affected respectively.

Authorities are running 463 relief camps and distribution centres, where almost 1.5 lakh people are sheltered in the districts.

Currently, Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger mark at Guwahati, Nematighat in Jorhat, Tezpur in Sonitpur, Goalpara and Dhubri towns. Its tributaries Burhidehing is flowing above danger level at Khowang in Dibrugarh, Dhansiri at Numaligarh in Golaghat, Jia Bharali at NT Road Crossing in Sonitpur, Puthimari at NH Road Crossing in Kamrup, Beki at Road Bridge in Barpeta and Sankosh at Golakganj in Dhubri, ASDMA said.

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The Assam floods have caused havoc in large areas of the Kaziranga National park and?Dibru-Saikhowa wildlife sanctuary also. These parks are inundated, forcing?animals to take refuge in platforms built for their succor. The extreme flooding in Kaziranga National Park, has killed four baby rhinos between the ages of one month and one year.

The authorities managed to rescue 42 hog deers but 15 others lost their lives while trying to escape from the drowning national park.?Touted to have been the worst floods reported in a decade, killing 18 and displacing 18 lakh more, the staff at Kaziranga has been shifted to safer places till the waters recede.

Another wildlife sanctuary in Assam, Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, the densest habitat of?one-horned rhinos, in Morigaon district has half of its area?flooded, forcing all wild animals to seek shelter in nearby?highlands. Several link roads to Pobitora are also submerged,?the officials added.

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The chief Minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal said 970 relief camps have been opened in which around five lakh people have taken shelter. Since hundreds of villages have completely been washed away and schools, roads, embankments are also submerged under water and badly damaged, the Government is sincerely trying to help the people with all the resources.

The state government has announced a relief of Rs 4 lakh for the families of the victims.?