Guwahati, Jul 1 (PTI) The flood situation in Assam deteriorated on Wednesday with over 48,000 people reeling under the deluge across four districts, an official bulletin said.
Visiting flood-affected areas in Dhemaji district, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the Centre will extend all assistance for relief and rehabilitation of people affected by floods in Assam.
According to the daily flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), nearly 48,500 people were affected by the floods in Biswanath, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh and Nalbari districts.
Dhemaji is the worst hit with over 44,000 people suffering, followed by Dibrugarh with almost 4,000 people and Biswanath with nearly 500 people reeling under flood waters, it added.
Till Tuesday, almost 47,000 people were suffering in flood waters across four districts of the state.
The total number of people losing their lives in this year’s flood remained at one.
Chouhan, along with Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, visited several flood-affected areas in Dhemaji district and reviewed the situation with Assam ministers and senior state government officials.
“The crisis is big, and we have seen the devastation. Houses have been damaged, and roads have been washed away. The priority is how to bring back normalcy and rebuild people’s daily life,” Chouhan told reporters in Dhemaji.
He said the delegation interacted with affected families, reviewed the extent of damage, and assessed ongoing relief and rehabilitation measures.
“Under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the central government stands firmly with the people of Assam in this challenging time and is committed to extending every possible support for relief, recovery and rebuilding,” Chouhan said.
The two central ministers, along with Assam Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Atul Bora, made an aerial survey of the worst-affected areas of Dhemaji district, which shares a border with flood-ravaged Arunachal Pradesh.
The ASDMA said that the administration has been operating 13 relief camps and relief distribution centres in two districts, taking care of 153 displaced people at present.
NDRF and SDRF personnel have rescued 713 people in different parts of Dhemaji, it added.
The authority has distributed 290.95 quintals of rice, 51.23 quintals of dal, 15.35 quintals of salt and 1,535.49 litres of mustard oil among the flood victims of the state during the last 24 hours.
At present, 179 villages are under water and 2,117.34 hectares of crop areas have been damaged across Assam, the ASDMA said.
Embankments, roads, bridges and other infrastructure have been damaged by flood waters in different districts of the state.
At present, the Brahmaputra river is flowing above the danger mark at Neamatighat.
On account of widespread flooding, over 82,883 domestic animals and poultry are affected across the state.
Addressing a press conference in Guwahati later, Chouhan said, “The damage is huge. Houses were damaged, roads washed away, electric poles uprooted, paddy destroyed, and domestic animals were killed. Everything will be surveyed in detail. In the meantime, I will submit an interim report to the Prime Minister on the extent of damage here.” While the full assessment has not been done yet, the Assam government has already begun assessing the damage, he added.
“The state government has shown urgency in handling the situation, leading to the rescue of many people. We are working on both short-term and long-term relief measures,” the minister said.
He said that the immediate relief work is being carried out by the existing SDRF money available with the Assam government.
“The NDRF will provide adequate funds to both Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, and will rescue people from this crisis,” he added.
Chouhan further said that the impact of El Nino will be there in Assam this year.
“It is predicted that 12 districts of Assam will be impacted by El Nino. So, we will have to think about that too. We have discussed that also,” he added. PTI TR TR NN
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