Assam: Death toll in floods reaches 68, several villages submerged

New Delhi: Assam has been devastated by floods and visuals showing the impact of the deluge keep emerging everyday. It is estimated that a total of 5.24 lakh people across 763 villages have been affected in this year’s floods in the state.

Though floodwaters are slowly receding, a total of 68 people have died so far in the state. The Disaster Reporting and Information Management System (DRIMS) Assam updated the death toll after 2 deaths occurred in Charaideo.

As of now however, only 1 river, the Dhansiri (South) at Numaligarh was still flowing above the danger mark in the state. More than 48,000 hectares of crops have been submerged in the floodwater, said a Times of India report.

Meanwhile, the state government has started relief and rescue operations on a war footing. They have also started restoring electricity in areas where the supply had been intentionally discontinued as a precautionary step.

As of now the number of districts still facing the floods is 9. But still lakhs of people are still dealing with the aftermath of the flood.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has asked his Cabinet colleagues to reach out to people across Assam and carry out relief operations. The worst affected districts in the state are Sivasagar, Jorhat and Golaghat and the government’s first priority is reaching out to people in these places.

The CM said that authorities are working to restore essential services in the flood-affected areas. This would help them return to normalcy.

Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal had described the flood situation in the state as “very serious”. He said that the Centre and State government were working to bring relief to the affected people. He said that the PM was closely monitoring the situation in the state.