Assam flood situation worsens; one drowns, 40,000 people affected in Sonitpur

Guwahati: After showing signs of improvement in the past one week, the flood situation in Assam worsened suddenly on Sunday because of heavy rain in Arunachal Pradesh. A population of 71,819 in five districts are now affected by the flood while 28,600 people of three districts had been hit by the deluge in the last two days.

Sonitpur and Nagaon were on Sunday added to flood hit districts of Dhemaji, Morigaon and Nagaon, an Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) report said.

One person was reported missing in Sonitpur district, road communication to neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh disrupted and 13,928 hectare crop area affected by the deluge, it said.

Sonitpur district is now the worst hit with 41,533 people affected on Saturday night when several areas were inundated by flood water that also submerged National Highway 15, district administration sources in Tezpur said.

A key town of Balipara is also flooded, the sources said. The town connects Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Jonai of Assam and several districts of Arunachal Pradesh and its capital Itanagar via NH-15.

Following the rain in Arunachal, water of Kameng entered areas like Rangapara, Balipara and Chariduar, sources said adding the road connectivity from Balipara to Bhalukpong in Arunachal Pradesh has been disrupted.

A hospital, a school and a commercial complex in Balipara were badly affected. Patients of the hospital were shifted by safer places by National Disaster and State Disaster Response Force.

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has directed Water Resources minister Keshav Mahanta to visit the affected areas of Sonitpur to study the damage and supervise the relief and rescue operations.

The third wave of devastating floods has so far claimed the life of 75 persons across the state taking the total toll to 159 in floods this year.

The Brahmaputra at Nimatighat in Jorhat district, Dhansiri river at Numaligarh in Golaghat district, Jia Bharali at NT Road Crossing in Sonitpur district are flowing above the danger level, the ASDMA report added.