Assam floods: Overall situation witnesses slight improvement; over 33 lakh still affected in 28 districts, death toll rises to 118

The overall flood situation in Assam has improved but over 33.03 lakh people in 28 districts continue to remain affected due to the natural calamity in the state, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) informed on Saturday.

Ten more people have died in the past 24 hours -- two each from Barpeta, Dhubri, Karimganj and Udalguri districts and one death each from Cachar and Morigaon -- due to floods and landslides.

According to ASDMA, a total of 118 people have lost their lives so far in the flood and landslides in the state this year; of which 100 people died in flood alone, while the remaining 18 died due to landslides.

As per the reports, at least 10 people, including four children died after drowning in the flood water in the last 24 hours.

The report also stated that 8.76 lakh people have been affected in Barpeta district alone, followed by 5.08 lakh people in Nagaon, 4.01 lakh in Kamrup, 2.76 lakh people in Cachar, 2.16 in Karimganj, 1.84 lakh in Dhubri, and 1.70 lakh people have been affected in the Darrang district of Assam.

Notably, 3,510 villages under 93 revenue circles of the state and nearly 91,700 hectares of cropland is still reeling under the flood water.

2,65,788 people affected by flood water are still lodged in 717 relief camps set up by the administration of 22 districts in the state, ASDMA reported.

Two drones have been deployed in Silchar of Cachar district for carrying out the flood inundation mapping as well as to provide the relief materials in the inaccessible areas.

The Cachar district administration is engaged in rescue operations in Silchar to evacuate people to safety, with priority on shifting ailing persons to hospital, Deputy Commissioner Keerthi Jalli said.

Packets with food, drinking water bottles, and other essentials are being airdropped in the town by the Indian Air Force helicopters, and this will continue till the situation improves, she said.

85.2 MT of GR items including packaged drinking water, rice, etc. have been air transported from Guwahati and Jorhat to Silchar.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel along with SDRF, Fire and Emergency personnel, Police Force and AAPDA MITRA Volunteers are helping the district administrations in the rescue operation and relief distributions.

However, the ASDMA earlier reported that many areas under the Raha revenue circle in the Nagaon district are still under flood waters.

Nearly 1.42 lakh people of 155 villages under the Raha revenue circle have been affected by the current wave of floods.

In the Nagaon district, children have participated in preschool activities in the relief camp itself. "We're making children participate in preschool activities in relief camp (Nagaon) itself, with morning prayers, physical exercises, drawings. Union Min Sarbananda Sonowal visited this camp earlier," NP Doley, Integrated Child Development Services supervisor told ANI.

The flood situation in Kampur area in Assam's Nagaon district has slightly improved, but many areas under Kampur revenue circle are still under flood waters.

The situation improved marginally in some districts, as rivers showed a receding trend though the Brahmaputra at Dhubri, while the Kopili river in Nagaon was flowing above the danger mark.