No relief has reached us, say flood victims in Assam
MORIGAON: Ramesh Kunwor and his family of six comprising his parents, wife and two minor sons have been staying at a makeshift structure near the road linking Jagiroad to Morigaon — nearly 75 km from the state capital — for the past five days.
Surging water of the Brahmaputra forced this 35-year-old farmer to flee his home at Madhupur village.
Over a dozen other families from the village are also staying at structures made of tin sheets and plastic since Saturday. But despite claims of adequate relief reaching all flood-affected in Assam, Ramesh and others are yet to receive any. Since they are not residing in designated camps, these victims are not listed in official records.
“We have been staying here since Saturday. No help has reached us and we are sustaining ourselves with whatever food we could bring with us. Now even that is running out,” said Ramesh. “This is an annual phenomenon. Each year we get displaced due to flood. This is the second time we are staying in camps this season,” said Jyotish Das (60), another villager.
On Wednesday, 11 deaths were reported from six of the state’s 24 flood-affected districts — taking the total number of flood-related deaths in the recent deluge to 39. The first round of floods last month had claimed 84 lives.
A week since flood waters inundated large parts of Assam, over 33.45 lakh people still remain affected. More than 1.38 lakh displaced people are residing in 629 relief camps. Close to 3,000 villages are still under water. Rescue teams evacuated 4,608 affected from inundated areas to safer places on Wednesday.
DEATH TOLL RISES TO 72 IN BIHAR
With 31 fresh deaths in the past 48 hours, the casualty figure rose to 72 in the 14 flood-affected districts of north Bihar on Wednesday. To tackle the situation caused by flash flood, the state government has pressed in 50 rescue teams.
The government has also engaged 276 boats and set up relief camps at vantage points to evacuate the marooned people and provide relief materials to them. The administration is also running health centres equipped with all emergency drugs.
The health department has dispatched 28 specialist doctors from the state headquarters to the affected districts.
“We have also set up an emergency control room at the state health society to monitor the situation,” said health minister Mangal Pandey.