Guwahati, Jul 16 (PTI) The flood situation in Assam improved on Tuesday with the number of people reeling under the deluge decreasing to around four lakh even as one more death was reported from Dhemaji in the last 24 hours, an official bulletin said.
The number of inundated districts reduced to 16, while a few major rivers, including the Brahmaputra, continued to flow over the danger level at several places, it said.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said traffic restrictions through the Kaziranga section of the national highway have been eased with improvement in the situation, though the speed limit remained imposed.
“In view of the improvement in the overall flood situation, from today, light motor vehicles and buses will be allowed to move through the Kaziranga section of the national highway normally, subject to speed restrictions. However, trucks will be allowed to move only in a convoy,” he said.
For more than a fortnight, all vehicles were being taken through the Kaziranga section in a convoy to ensure the safety of animals crossing the national highway from lowland areas of the national park to the hills of Karbi Anglong.
Sarma said elephants are returning to their natural habitat in Kaziranga, indicative of receding water level.
“A key indicator of receding floodwaters is animal migration. The good news is that our thermal cameras have spotted more and more elephants returning to their natural habitat in Kaziranga as water levels decrease,” he said.
However, an Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) bulletin said 4,04,128 people in 49 revenue circles and 1,021 villages in 16 districts are still suffering from floodwater.
The affected districts are Nalbari, Kamrup, Morigaon, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Cachar, Goalpara, Dhemaji, Karimganj, Nagaon, Golaghat, Sivsagar, Kamrup Metropolitan, Biswanath, Hailakandi and Majuli.
As of Monday, 5.11 lakh in 17 districts were reeling under the deluge.
The ASDMA bulletin said one death was reported from Dhemaji in the last 24 hours. The toll in this year’s flood, lightning and storm is at 113.
Cachar remained the worst-hit district with 80,783 affected people, followed by Dhubri (80,544) and Nagaon (76,889).
Altogether 84 relief camps with 15,476 inmates are now functional. Another 38 centres are providing relief to 15,607 affected people.
Cropland of 19,724.05 hectares remained inundated, while six animals were washed away in the last 24 hours and another 2,08,119 were affected.
The Brahmaputra river is flowing above the danger level in Nematighat, Tezpur and Dhubri, Disang in Nanglamuraghat and Kushiyara in Karimganj, the bulletin said.
Embankments, roads, bridges, houses and other infrastructure have been damaged in different districts, it added. PTI SSG BDC
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