17 killed, over 1 lakh displaced in Assam floods, Centre releases Rs 251 crore aid

Guwahati, July 17: The flood situation in Assam deteriorating further on Tuesday, with all 33 districts of the state coming under the grip of the deluge that has claimed 17 lives and affected over 45 lakh people so far.

The Centre has released Rs 251.55 crore to the State Disaster Response Fund.

Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for the prompt release of the funds.

"This shall immensely help in relief operations and mitigating suffering of people affected by Assam floods," ANI quoted Sarma as saying.

According to Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), more than 45 lakh people have been affected in 4,620 villages of the state, with 1,01,085 people taking refuge in 226 relief camps.

Barpeta is the worst hit with 7.35 lakh people affected, followed by Morigaon where 3.50 lakh people are hit. In Dhubri, around 3.38 lakh people have been affected, according to the ASDMA.

As many as 562 distribution centres have been set up for providing relief to the affected people.

As many as 1,556 villages across Dhemaji, Biswanath, Sonitpur, Darrang, Baksa, Barpeta, Nalbari, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Goalpara, Morigaon, Hojai, Nagaon, Golaghat, Majuli, Jorhat, Sivsagar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia districts have been hit by the deluge.

Besides the NDRF, the Army has been deployed in Assam to aid the personnel in rescuing marooned people.

With over 150 anti-poaching camps in the Kaziranga affected by the floods, the authorities are working round-the-clock to check poaching at the UNESCO World Heritage site, officials said.

ASDMA said the Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger level at Jorhat, Tezpur, Guwahati, Goalpara and Dhubri along with Burhidehing at Khowang in Dibrugarh. Also flowing above their danger marks are Subansiri river at Badatighat in Lakhimpur, Dhansiri river at Numaligarh in Golaghat, Jia Bharali river at Sonitpur and Kopili river at Kampur and Dharamtul in Nagaon.

The Puthimari river is flowing above the danger mark at Kamrup, Beki river at Barpeta, Barak river at Cachar and Badarpur river and Katakhal river at Hailakandi.