Guwahati: The flood situation in Assam worsened significantly on Tuesday, with 21 more people losing their lives in the past 24 hours, taking this year’s flood death toll in the state to 31. More than 5.64 lakh people across 16 districts have been affected as rising river levels and widespread inundation continue to disrupt normal life.
According to the latest official update, Sivasagar was the worst hit district, reporting 13 deaths during the day. Charaideo recorded five fatalities, while Golaghat and Jorhat reported two and one deaths respectively.
The number of flood affected people has increased sharply from over 3.63 lakh on Monday to more than 5.64 lakh. Sivasagar remains the worst affected district with 3.59 lakh people impacted, followed by Jorhat with over 87,600 and Charaideo with nearly 72,700 residents affected. In total, 872 villages across 44 revenue circles remain submerged.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that he would begin visiting the worst affected districts from Wednesday to assess the relief and rescue operations. His itinerary includes Charaideo, Nazira, Sivasagar, Sonari, Jorhat and Teok.
Authorities have set up 71 relief camps sheltering more than 12,200 displaced people, while 202 relief distribution centres are supplying essential assistance to affected residents.
Several rivers continue to flow above danger levels, including the Dikhou and Disang in Sivasagar district, while the Brahmaputra at Nematighat, Burhidihing at Khowang, and the Dhansiri (South) at Golaghat and Numaligarh also remain above the danger mark.
Rescue and relief operations are being carried out by the Indian Air Force, National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and Fire and Emergency Services.
Floodwaters have also disrupted railway services for the second consecutive day, forcing the cancellation, diversion and short termination of several trains. Additional special train services have been introduced to assist stranded passengers.
To maintain communication in the worst affected districts, the Department of Telecommunications has activated an intra circle roaming facility until July 24, allowing mobile users to connect through any available network when their primary service is unavailable.
