Assam flood: Over 57.51 lakh people affected, death toll mounts to 30

According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), over 57.51 lakh people of 29 districts in the state have been affected in the current flood and 30 people have lost their lives due to flood and landslide.

10 persons have drowned in the floodwaters on Tuesday in Sonitpur, Udalguri, Kamrup (M), Morigaon and Nagaon districts.

The floodwaters have submerged 4626 villages and 1,73,312 hectare of croplands.

Over 14.92 lakh people have been affected alone in Barpeta district while 10.74 lakh people in Dhubri district, 6.07 lakh people in Morigaon, 4.59 lakh people in South Salmara, 3.28 lakh people in Goalpara, 2.43 lakh people in Darrang, 2.30 lakh people in Nalbari, 1.90 lakh people in Bongaigaon, 1.90 lakh people in Kamrup, 1.30 lakh people in Golaghat, 1.14 lakh people in Sonitpur districts.

The administration has set up 427 relief camps and 392 Relief Distribution Centres in the flood-hit districts and 1,51,947 flood-affected people have taken shelter in the relief camps.

Over 23.50 lakh animals have been affected in this deluge.

On the other hand, the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries are still flowing above danger level marks in many places in the state.

NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) and SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) teams have been pressed into service in the flood-affected areas for search and rescue operations.

NDRF team with rescue boats (459 + personnel with boats) have been placed in 16 locations and SDRF has been deployed in 40 locations (338 personnel with rescue boats) of the state.

The centre has released Rs 251.55 crore as the first instalment of SDRF to Assam.

Meanwhile, Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar has announced that he plans to donate Rs 1 crore each towards the Kaziranga Park rescue operations and Chief Minister's Relief Fund for Assam.

The award-winning actor also urged his fans to contribute to the cause.

“Absolutely heartbreaking to know about the devastation by floods in Assam. All affected, humans or animals, deserve support in this hour of crisis. I’d like to donate 1cr each to the CM Relief Fund and to Kaziranga Park rescue,” Akshay Kumar tweeted on Wednesday.

Earlier, Indian sprinter Hima Das, who recently brought home 3 gold medals from different events announced that she will donate half of her salary to Assam flood victims and also urged big corporates and individuals to kindly come forward and help Assam in this difficult situation.

“Flood situation in our state Assam is very critical, 30 out of 33 districts are currently affected. So i would like to request big corporates and individuals to kindly come forward and help our state in this difficult situation,” Hima Das tweeted.

(By Hemanta Kumar Nath, Guwahati)