Flood wreaks havoc in 11 Assam districts; one dies in Goalpara

Landslides snap road, rail links in Dima Hasao

GUWAHATI: Over 2.70 lakh people in as many as 11 districts have been affected by the first wave of floods in Assam, with the state registering its first casualty in Goalpara, while rain-induced landslides  snapped road and rail communication in Dima Hasao district on Wednesday.

According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) bulletin, one person was swept away by floodwater in the Rongjuli area of Goalpara, where the situation has turned very grim over the past three days, with rivers overflowing and embankments breaching.

Over 2.15 lakh people across 172 villages/localities under Balijana, Lakhipur and Matia revenue circles have been affected so far in the district, which shares boundary with Meghalaya.

The other deluge-hit districts are Nalbari, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Lakhimpur, Darrang, Dhemaji, Nagaon, Hojai, Barpeta and West Karbi Anglong.

Over 16,000 displaced people are being housed in 51 relief camps and six relief centres across the state.

Three rivers, Jia Bharali in Sonitpur district, Puthimari in Kamrup district and Brahmaputra in Jorhat district were flowing above danger level.

Apart from embankment breaches in Barpeta, Nalbari and Golaghat, as many as 18 roads were breached/submerged in Dhemaji district while roads and bridges were damaged/submerged in several other districts.

Meanwhile, rain-induced landslides have occurred in three villages under Harangajao and one village under Diyumgbra revenue circle of Dima Hasao district.

The Haflong-Umrangso and Haflong-Silchar roads have been blocked while a train was left stranded at Maibong railway station due to landslides.

Besides, 18 houses were fully damaged while 12 houses were partially damaged by landslides, the ASDMA bulletin stated.

Incessant rain over the past few days has not helped matters, with the weather bulletin of the Regional Meteorological Centre here on Wednesday evening predicting more rain in the next 24 hours.

“Thunderstorm and lightning with gusty wind speed up to (30-40 km per hour) is very likely to occur at isolated places over Assam and Meghalaya. Heavy to very heavy rain is very likely to occur at isolated places over Assam and three other states of the region,” it warned.