One hurt in police firing as flood victims take to streets

Guwahati, Aug 1 (UNI) A 13-year-old boy was injured when police opened fire after inmates of a relief camp and villagers in Barpeta district and blocked roads to protest against the administration's 'failure' to ensure adequate aid to the flood victims.

Nearly 3000 villagers and inmates of relief camp at Bhella, around 10 km from Barpeta town in lower Asom, took to the streets and blocked the road for several hours this noon, police said.

The villagers alleged that the administration had failed to provide aid to the relief camps and flood-affected villages in the area since the last three days.

When the situation worsened, police were forced to fire in the air to disperse the crowd which brought traffic on the road which links Lower Asom to Guwahati, to standstill for several hours.

A 13-year-old boy suffered splinter injuries, but was stated to be out of danger.

The administration later assured the villagers of providing the requisite relief material at the earliest.

Meanwhile, the flood situation in the state had not improved yet, with the Brahmaputra and its tributaries continued to flow above the danger mark.

Swelling waters in lower Asom threatened to disrupt road communication of the entire North East with the rest of the country.

A portion of railway track was washed away in Dhemaji district, which had remained cut off the area from rest of the country since last month.

The swelling Kurishu river in Bhutan had flooded new areas of Barpeta, Baska and Chirang districts of lower Asom after the Bhutan authorities released water without any alert to the border districts of Asom.

Official sources confirmed 15 deaths in the floods till yesterday, besides hundreds of cattle had also died. However, unofficial sources put the death toll higher than the government figures, with many deaths reported today.

So far 385 relief camps and 264 temporary shelters have been opened as more than five lakh hectares of land of the state including 1.55 lakh hectares of crop land, were affected by the fury of floods and more than nine hundred houses were damaged.

The floods also severely affected road communication in Asom and so far six concrete bridges, 15 semi-permanent timber bridges and 45 approaches to the bridges were damaged while the NH 52 was breached at four places on way to Dhemaji district, thereby cutting off road communication to the district.

More than 50 pipe water supply schemes and more than three thousand spot water supply schemes were damaged.

UNI