Assam: 3.81 lakh affected as floods destroy crops and houses, sweep away animals

"When the state is bearing the brunt of flood as well as Covid-19 pandemic, everybody should work as a team and help the people to get rid of this situation," Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal said on Friday.

Assam is bearing the brunt of a flood days after a natural calamity rocked the states of Odisha and West Bengal. As many as 3.81 lakh people in Assam's seven districts have been affected by the recent floods.

The death toll caused by the floods in Assam rose to 5 on Friday with two more people drowning in the floodwater in Goalpara's Lakhipur and Doboka in Hojai district.

With over 3.81 lakh people from across 356 villages in 11 revenue circles of Assam facing hardship due to the floods, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) is working to aid those displaced by this calamity. Nalbari, Goalpara, Nagaon, Hojai, West Karbi Anglong, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts are among the affected.

Over 1.96 lakh people have been affected by the floods in Goalpara district alone while 94,400 people have been affected in Hojai district, 74,800 people in Nagaon district, 6,600 people in West Karbi Anglong district, and 5,200 people in Nalbari district. Nearly 22,000 people have taken shelter at 190 relief camps set up by the administration in affected districts.

Floodwaters have also submerged 24,755 hectares of crop and nearly 74,000 domestic animals and 51,000 poultry animals.

On Friday, teams of NDRF and SDRF rescued 3,880 people from flood-affected areas in Hojai and Goalpara.

CM visits flood-hit Goalpara district

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday visited flood-hit Goalpara district and took stock of the situation. The state government will deal with the prevailing flood situation in pursuance of the new relief manual which would strengthen state government's efforts to give relief and respite to the flood victims as well as fighting with the novel coronavirus pandemic, CM Sonowal said.

He also visited temporary relief camps set up at Agia Balijana Girls High School and Dwarka Primary School and interacted with the inmates. CM Sarbananda Sonowal directed the deputy commissioner to provide adequate facilities like food, drinking water and medicine.

"Doctors should be visiting the relief centres and provide medical attention to inmates present there. In view of the Covid-19 pandemic wherein social distancing is regarded as the golden deterrent to keep the virus at bay, district administration should ensure strict adherence to the social distancing norms in the relief camps," Sonowal said.

CM Sonowal also visited the integrated child development project office and examined the facilities made available to children staying at the relief camps. He also spoke to the ASHA workers.

The Chief Minister of Assam also visited the Agia-Lakhipur State Highway-12, a portion of which was completely washed away by the flood. He directed concerned officials to restore communication through that portion of the bridge on a war-footing.

CM Sarbananda Sonowal also visited a quarantine centre set up at Ayurvedic Hospital in Dudhnoi during his visit to the district.

Moreover, he handed over cheques amounting to Rs 4 lakh each to the next of the kin of the four deceased who lost their lives during the flood.

CM Sonowal urged upon the deputy commissioner and other functionaries to work in such a way so that Goalpara can set a model in the fight against flood and the novel coronavirus. He also asked the power department to foresee any danger and work accordingly to avert deaths due to electrocution during the floods.

"In this extraordinary situation when the state is bearing the brunt of flood as well as Covid-19 pandemic, everybody should work as a team and help the people to get rid of this situation. In the absence of any antidote to fight against coronavirus, social distancing is the only means through which human lives can be saved and appealed to the media persons to generate awareness so that people adhere to social distancing norms in the fight against novel coronavirus," Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal said.