The flood situation in Assam has improved considerably over the last couple of days with no rain and the sun burning bright across the State.
Officials on Wednesday informed that, however, 50 per cent of the world-famous Kaziranga National Park (KNP) is still inundated.
As many as 18 rhinos and 135 wild animals died due to the deluge till date, officials said.
On the other hand, around 172 wild animals have been rescued so far from floodwater, even though over 95 per cent of the park remained inundated until July 23.
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The animals that died this year include 18 rhinos, 107 hog deer, 12 wild boars, six wild buffaloes, four porcupines and three swamp deer.
The 172 rescued animals include three rhinos, 120 hog deer, 31 pythons and four cobras.
Forest officials said not only KNP, but the Manas, Orang and Tinsukia national parks, and the Pabitora and Tinsukia wildlife sanctuaries were also affected by floodwater that led to death of many wild animals there.
Of the 223 camps of forest personnel guarding the park, three were still inundated as of Wednesday despite receding floodwater.
Around 1.43 lakh people in 270 villages in 15 districts are still in distress even as the situation in Assam has improved hugely in the past two weeks due to a let-up in the monsoon.
According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) officials, of the 1.43 lakh affected people in 15 of the 33 districts, 1.35 lakh are in the state’s eight districts — Goalpara (86,515), Morigaon (16,042), Bongaigaon (8,239), Dhemaji (6,495), Baksa (5,000), Nagaon (4,500), Kokrajhar (4,272) and Kamrup-Metro (4,142).
Crops on 21,476 hectares of land in 11 districts are still inundated.