Guwahati: The death toll from this year’s floods in Assam has risen to 80 after two more people died in Sivasagar district, while the overall flood situation continued to improve with the number of affected people declining to 2.12 lakh, officials said on Friday.
According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), both deaths were reported from Sivasagar, where a boy was among those who drowned in floodwaters during the past 24 hours.
Floods continue to affect 2,12,400 people across eight districts — Golaghat, Sivasagar, Biswanath, Charaideo, Kamrup (Metropolitan), Jorhat, Dhemaji and Nagaon. A total of 21 revenue circles and 437 villages remain inundated.
Charaideo remains the worst-hit district, with nearly 80,000 people affected, followed by Sivasagar with around 71,000 and Jorhat with more than 40,000. The number of affected people has fallen from over three lakh earlier this week.
The administration is operating 112 relief camps and relief distribution centres across four districts, where 75,583 displaced people are taking shelter.
Rescue and relief operations are being carried out by the Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Fire and Emergency Services, police and the civil administration.
ASDMA said 17,198.09 hectares of cropland remain submerged, while embankments, roads, bridges and other public infrastructure have been damaged in several districts. The Dhansiri River continues to flow above the danger level at Numaligarh.
Floods have also affected nearly 2.97 lakh domestic animals and poultry across the state.
During the past 24 hours, the administration distributed 918.55 quintals of rice, 203.9 quintals of pulses, 146.7 quintals of salt and 17,546.4 litres of mustard oil among affected families.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced a six-month moratorium on loan repayments for flood-affected borrowers in Sivasagar, Charaideo, Jorhat and Golaghat districts following a meeting of the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) attended by representatives of the Reserve Bank of India, NABARD, State Bank of India and other commercial banks.
He also said banks would be allowed to extend loan tenures by up to seven years, depending on the nature of the loan.
The chief minister said the state government has sought a special financial package from the Centre for relief and rehabilitation. During the visit of the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT), Assam also requested that the upper Assam floods be recognised as an “atypical, high-intensity, rapid-onset event” to enable more flexible norms for damage assessment and assistance.