Assam: Flood Death Toll Rises to 86; 12 Lakh People Still Affected

Guwahati, July 29, 2019:

The death toll rose to 86 on Monday after four more persons lost their lives, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority said on Saturday even as the flood situation is improving gradually across the state. The four casualties were reported from the districts of Barpeta, Kokrajhar, and Dhubri.

1,117 villages in 50 revenue circles of 17 districts, namely, Dhemaji, Sonitpur, Darrang, Baksa, Barpeta, Nalbari, Chirang, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Goalpara, Kamrup, Kamrup (M), Morigaon, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat and Cachar are having flood waters affecting a population of 12,24,685.

Water level of Rivers at ‘Danger Level’ are as follows: Brahmaputra at Neamatighat (Jorhat)

and Dhubri; Dhansiri (S) at Numaligarh (Golaghat); Jia Bharali at N.T. Road Xing

(Sonitpur) and Kushiara at Karimganj (Karimganj).

The current wave of floods have submerged almost a huge portion of the Kaziranga National Park, forcing the wild animals to stray out to take shelter on higher ground while flood waters have also submerged the anti-poaching camps over the last one week.

The park authorities have, however, said that the flood situation is improving gradually as the water level has been showing a receding trend.

Officials have said that the Forest Department staff have been working hard along with villagers to protect the distressed wild animals.

The floods have been extremely devastating this year, and over 15,000 schools have been damaged.

Inside Northeast’s Campaign #LetsSaveDeeporBeel is now supported by Oil India Limited (OIL). Join us as we continue the awareness campaign to preserve the only Ramsar site in Assam which is facing immense threats. We need your help to preserve this site of great ecological importance. Join the #LetsSaveDeeporBeel campaign and tweet about it, and do tag us on Twitter. Let’s make some noise!