Two more drown in Assam floods

More than 3.81 lakh people affected across seven districts

Two more persons drowned on Friday in Assam, taking the flood-related death toll to five.

Officials of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said the floodwaters have maintained the receding trend since May 28, but the number of affected people increased from 2.94 lakh to 3.81 lakh within a span of 24 hours.

“The number of affected districts has come down from 11 on May 27 to seven today (Friday). However, floodwaters entered more villages in the affected districts to displace more people and force 21,807 people into 101 relief camps,” an ASDMA spokesperson said.

She added that the officials in the affected districts have, unlike in the past, sent the affected people across more relief centres to maintain social distancing according to COVID-19 protocols.

One of the two persons who drowned on Friday was from the Doboka area of central Assam’s Hojai district. The other one was from Lakhipur area in western Assam’s Goalpara, where three others had drowned during the past two days.

Friday also saw two animals among the 74,394 affected being washed away.

Goalpara continued to be the worst-affected region with 1.96 lakh displaced, followed by Hojai with 94,445 and Nagaon with 74,875. Of the total inmates in relief camps, 16,300 are in Goalpara district alone.

While most of the affected people have made their way to higher grounds, personnel of the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force have rescued 3,880 people.

ASDMA officials said the water level of the Brahmaputra has subsided but the Kopili in central Assam was flowing above the danger mark.