Floods claim 91 lives in Assam; 3 deaths reported from Bihar
nGUWAHATI/BETTIAH/NEWDELHI: Four more people died in rain-related incidents in Assam on Thursday taking the total number of those killed in rain-related incidents this season to 91,even as Bihar reported three deaths due to drowning.
According to an Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) bulletin, one death each was reported from Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Morigaon and Golaghat districts. Over 28 lakh people in 26 of the state’s 33 districts continue to be affected. Over 47,000 displaced people are taking shelter at 456 relief camps. Rescue personnel evacuated 1,102 persons stranded by floods on Thursday.
In Bihar’s Bettiah, three bodies were recovered from different parts of East Champaran as villages in Raxaul, Sikarahana, Bettiah, Bagaha and Pakaridayal sub-divisions continued to be flooded.
In Chakiya sub-division, body of a 35-year-old man was recovered from Dhanauti river. Parsuram Paswan was visiting his field when he drowned, said police. In Gokhala village, the body of an 11-year-old boy was recovered from a pond. In Chirraiya, a four-year-old girl drowned in a roadside ditch at Balapur village, said police.
“As the water has entered several houses, we are running community kitchens at three places in Nautan, Bairiya and Chanpatiya blocks,” said Bettiah sub-divisional magistrate Vidhyanath Paswan.
At least twelve villages in Banjariya blocks were inundated after an embankment on Tilawe river breached on Wednesday, said an official.
FLOODS HIT 2.4 MN KIDS IN INDIA, SAYS UNICEF
An estimated 2.4 million children have been affected by the floods in India, the UNICEF said on Thursday, calling for immediate support to address the challenges. In a statement, UNICEF said, “In India, over 6 million people across Bihar, Assam, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have been affected by the floods, including an estimated 2.4 million children,” it said.