Three people drowned in many districts of Assam on Thursday as the flood situation in the State took a turn for the worse affecting eight of the State’s 33 districts.
A report published in the The Hindu stated that 41 people have perished in the floods so far (read since the first wave of floods hit Assam in May) and landslides caused due to heavy rainfall has claimed the lives of three people.
The report further stated that officials of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said a person each drowned in Dhemaji, Udalguri and Golaghat districts. These and five other districts have been affected by flash floods and the rising waters of the Brahmaputra and four of its tributaries.
“About 1 lakh people have been affected by the second wave of floods,” an ASDMA official said. Eastern Assam’s Golaghat is the worst-affected district with 54,135 people displaced followed by Sivasagar (17,905) and Lakhimpur (14,052).
Golaghat and Sivasagar district authorities have set up 99 relief camps that are currently housing 20,869 people. Officials said crops on 5,056.35 hectares have been destroyed across eight districts. “Apart from inundation, erosion has been a major problem. At least 68 houses have been destroyed by rivers such as Jia Bharali and Panchnoi in Sonitpur, Udalguri and Barpeta districts,” the ASDMA official said.