Assam flood situation deteriorates; one more dead, over 4 lakh affected

The flood situation in Assam deteriorated on Thursday with one more person losing his life and more than four lakh people remaining affected by the deluge in 19 districts, an official bulletin said.
    
According to the daily flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), one person drowned in Khairabari area in Udalguri district.
    
With this, the total number of people losing their lives in this year's floods, landslides and storms rose to 36.
    
As per the bulletin, more than 4,09,300 people remained affected in Bajali, Baksa, Barpeta, Biswanath, Cachar, Darrang, Goalpara, Hailakandi, Hojai, Kamrup, Karimganj, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sonitpur, South Salmara, Tamulpur and Udalguri districts.
    
Karimganj was the worst hit with over 2.5 lakh people affected, followed by Darrang (53,500) and Tamulpur (23,000), it added.
    
Till Wednesday, almost three lakh people were reeling under the deluge in 17 districts of the state.

Also Read: Severe flooding strikes Barpeta district: Thousands affected and infrastructure damaged
    
"The flood situation is slightly alarming now as many tributaries of Brahmaputra are flowing above the danger level. The good thing is Brahmaputra has not crossed the danger level yet," Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters at Tezpur.
    
If the rain stops, the situation will be under control. However, if the incessant rain continues like this, the flood situation will become grim, he added.
    
"It (flooding) has not spread to much area, but wherever it has happened, people are facing immense difficulties. We are managing it at present. The central government is enquiring about the situation, but we have not sought any assistance yet. We have sufficient funds with us," Sarma said.
    
The administration has been operating 105 relief camps in one district, where 14,215 persons have taken shelter, and running 78 relief distribution centres in one district.
    
The authority has distributed 2,010.35 quintals of rice, 354.59 quintals of dal, 134.36 quintals of salt and 10,750.2 litres of mustard oil among the flood affected people in the last 24 hours.
    
At present, 1,311 villages are under water and 6,424.83 hectares of crop areas have been damaged across Assam, the ASDMA said.
    
Embankments, roads, bridges and other infrastructure have been damaged by floodwaters in Bajali, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Darrang, Goalpara, Hojai, Kamrup, Kokrajhar, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sonitpur, South Salmara, Tamulpur, Udalguri, Biswanath, West Karbi Anglong and Karimganj.
    
At present, Kopili at Kampur, Katakhal at Matizuri, Barak at Badarpur Ghat and Kushiyara at Karimganj town are flowing above the danger level, ASDMA said.