Guwahati, Jul 29 (PTI) The toll in Assam floods continued to rise with three more fatalities pushing the total deaths to 78 on Wednesday, even as over 3 lakh people remained affected by the deluge in seven districts, an official bulletin said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall with thunderstorm for the next three days in isolated places of the state as well as in neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, which could affect the districts in Assam bordering these two states.
An Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) bulletin said three deaths were reported in the last 24 hours — two from Sivasagar district and one from Golaghat. With these, the toll in this year’s flood has reached 78.
Seven districts — Sivasagar, Charaideo, Golaghat, Jorhat, Nagaon, Biswanath and Kamrup (Metropolitan) – continued to reel under the deluge, with 551 villages remaining affected.
Altogether 3,00,031 people remained affected, with Charaideo being the worst-hit with 1,37,561 people impacted, followed by Sivasagar (84,600) and Jorhat (49,911). On Tuesday, 3.32 lakh people were affected in six districts.
More than 16,500 displaced people were taking shelter in 71 relief camps. Another 30 relief distribution centres were catering to over 72,000 people.
Multiple agencies, including medical and veterinary teams, remained pressed in rescue operations in the affected areas.
A crop area of 21,523.08 hectares remained submerged. More than 11,000 animals have been washed away, while another 17,000 have been affected.
Damage to various infrastructure, including embankments, houses, roads, schools and other public property, was also reported from various parts, the ASDMA bulletin added.
Meanwhile, the IMD has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall along with thunderstorms from July 30 to August 1 at isolated places across Assam and parts of Arunachal Pradesh, which may affect the Assam districts of Tinsukia, Dhemaji and Lakhimpur.
An ‘orange alert’, asking people to be prepared, has been issued for Tinsukia district. Further, ‘orange alert’ was also issued for Mon, Mokokchung and Wokha districts of Nagaland, which may affect the neighbouring Assam districts of Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat and Golaghat.
It may aggravate water-logging, flooding, flash floods, slow vehicular movement and increase the risk of localised landslides in vulnerable pockets, an IMD statement said.
“The district authorities and ASDMA are closely monitoring the situation and emergency response systems are being kept on alert,” it said.
The ASDMA urged people of the districts concerned to take all necessary precautions and remain vigilant, and said the status of the situation would be updated on its official website and on all its social media handles from time to time for general awareness. PTI SSG SSG ACD
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