Assam flood situation improves marginally, over 1.76 lakh hit

(Credits: PTI)

Guwahati: The flood situation in Assam improved further on Saturday (September 4, 2021) with water levels in major rivers receding and the number of people affected by the deluge coming down by nearly one lakh, even as one more fatality due to the calamity was reported, a bulletin said.

Over 1.76 lakh people across 17 districts are suffering from the deluge, while the death of one more person raised the toll in the current wave of floods to seven, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said.

On Friday, the number of affected districts was 22 and that of the flood-hit people was over 2.71 lakh.

Altogether, 42 revenue circles and 863 villages remained affected, while 23,884 hectares of crop have also been damaged, according to the ASDMA bulletin.

Golaghat is the worst-hit district with 63,984 people suffering, followed by Darrang and Morigaon.

Authorities are running 17 relief camps where at least 3,397 people have taken shelter, and another 62 distribution centres have been operational, it said.

The 17 affected districts are Barpeta, Biswanath, Bongaigaon, Chirang, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dhubri, Goalpara, Golaghat, Jorhat, Kamrup Rural, Kamrup Metropolitan, Lakhimpur, Morigaon, Nagaon, Sonitpur and South Salmara.

The ASDMA said erosion has been witnessed in Biswanath, Bongaigaon, Dhubri, Golaghat, Lakhimpur, Morigaon, Sonitpur and Udalguri districts.

Embankments, roads, bridges and other infrastructure have been damaged by floodwaters in several districts.

The Brahmaputra river was flowing above the danger level at two places in Jorhat and Dhubri districts, while water level of Jia Bharali was above the red mark in Sonitpur, a government official said.

All other major rivers were on a receding trend, he added.