20 Dead, Over 9.6 Lakh People Affected By Assam Floods And About 40% Of Kaziranga Inundated

The flood situation in Assam continues to remain grim as more and more people continue to be affected every passing hour.

So far over 9.26 lakh people in 2,071 villages in 23 of the state's 33 districts have been hit by the annual recurring flood.

AP

Five persons have so far died in Dhemaji, Udalguri, Goalpara and Dibrugarh districts taking the total death toll to 20 in the floods and 23 more people were killed in separate landslides since May 22.

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Assam every year suffers from floods and this year is no different.#AssamFloods pic.twitter.com/Ebx6wdNhyd

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There has been incessant downpour across northeast region including Assam causing most rivers including mighty Brahmaputra flowing above danger levels in many places and inundating fresh areas every day.

AP

Most rivers in the state except those in Barak Valley witnessed rise in water levels so far.

Devastating flood situation in Assam. #AssamFloods pic.twitter.com/7Q1TC2JWkq

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An official of the ASDMA said that the flood-hit districts are - Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Udalguri, Darrang, Nalbari, Barpeta, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat, Majuli, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Bongaigaon, South Salmara, Goalpara, Kamrup, Morigaon, Hojai, West Karbi Anglong and Tinsukia.

AFP

"Over 9.26 lakh people affected by the floods and over 68,806 hectares of crop areas were badly affected due to the floods. Around 27,308 people took shelter in 193 relief camps," an official said.

The National Disaster Response Force, Assam State Disaster Response Force personnel, along with local administrations, are continuously working to rescue the affected people and rendering relief services, including distribution of relief material to the marooned villagers.

With the rains showing no signs of slowing down and more rains predicted for the coming days, people, mostly those living the low-lying areas are finding it difficult to keep themselves on safe grounds.

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There are also reports of flooding in the Kaziranga National Park, which is home to the endangered one-horned Rhinos. Up to 40 percent of the reserve is said to be flooded in the downpours.

Though there are reports of animals migrating to higher grounds, till now there has been no loss of life.

AFP

Wild animals including rhinos have come outside the park seeking shelter as the park has been hit by deluge. On Saturday, a rhino was seen roaming openly on national Highway 37.

Meanwhile, the forest department has been leaving no stone unturned to protect the wildlife of the park as poachers take the opportunity to kill rhinos during the floods.

AFP

Last year was one of the worst years on record for the KNP, when as much as 95% of the reserve was underwater, and 21 rhinos were drowned in the deluge.

With Indian meteorological department predicting more rains in the next few days, Assam might have to face tougher days with worsening flood situation along with COVID-19 surge as Guwahati, state's main city and commercial hub, and its outskirts have gone into a lockdown and daily night curfew besides complete lockdown on Saturday and Sunday in the entire state to prevent the community transmission of the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, officials of the state-owned Oil India Ltd (OIL) said that due to the heavy rains over the past few days, Baghjan - where its leaking oil well caught fire - and adjoining areas in Tinsukia district have been badly hit by flood water and the accident site has been inundated, affecting the efforts to douse the blaze.