Situation in flood-hit Assam to worsen in the next 72 hrs

PM talks to Sonowal, takes stock of situation, assures necessary help

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, on Sunday spoke to Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal over the phone and assured all necessary support in dealing with the devastating flood which has claimed 81 lives and affected more than 54 lakh people in the state so far.

While discussing the flood situation with the Chief Minister, the Prime Minister also enquired about the Covid-19 scenario and the ongoing efforts to douse the raging blaze at Oil India’s Baghjan gas well.

Sonowal in his social media posts said, “Expressing his concern and solidarity with the people, the Prime Minister assured all support to the state.”

The Chief Minister’s office while confirming the Prime Minister’s call said that Sonowal informed Modi of all the measures the state government has taken so far in dealing with the problems faced by the people.

The Assam state disaster management authority (ASDMA) on Sunday said that 54,31,999 people have been affected in Assam since the first wave of floods hit the state on May 22 this year.

The total number of people killed in this year’s floods and landslides has gone up to 107 across the state, of whom 81 were killed in flood-related incidents and 26 died due to landslides.

Pointing out that at least 28 lakh people are still reeling under the impact of floods, the ASDMA bulletin indicated some improvement in the flood situation of the state on Saturday.

However, it feared that situation may deteriorate again as the meteorological department predicted heavy rainfall in some parts of the state in the next 72 hours.

The river Brahmaputra has been flowing above danger level in several places in the state.

A total of 30 districts have been affected so far. The total number of revenue circles affected is 125 and over 5,107 villages were devastated by the floods.

The government has so far opened 554 relief camps that are currently providing relief to 1,43,342 people.

State disaster response forces (SDRF) teams have been positioned in 40 different locations. Meanwhile, national disaster response forces (NDRF) has been pre-positioned in eight locations of Assam — Dhemaji, Sonitpur, Tinsukia, Jorhat, Sivasagar,

Barpeta, Bongaigaon and Cachar.

374 boats have been deployed and 76,514 flood victims have been rescued.

It is significant that the state was battling the twin problems of floods as well as Covid-19 simultaneously. On the Covid-19 front, Assam has recorded 22,981 cases, of which 10,503 have been reported from Guwahati alone. The total number of persons losing their lives due to Covid-19 in the state has gone up to

53.

Five more Covid-19 patients have died, but the government’s death audit board has not included them in the tally of deaths caused by the Covid-19 virus as they had other ailments.

● ASDMA STATES that

54,31,999 people have been affected since the first wave of floods hit the state on May 22. The total number of revenue circles affected is 125 and over

5,107 villages were devastated by the floods.

— PTI Vehicles ply on a waterlogged street at ITO following heavy rainfall in New Delhi on Sunday. A spate of incidents were reported in the national capital as several areas were waterlogged. Some shanties collapsed near the WHO building in Anna Nagar. Three fire tenders were rushed to the spot and also a small NDRF team was sent to Anna Nagar near ITO to take stock of the situation.