5 more deaths in Assam floods, toll rises to 41

Guwahati, Sept 7: Five people died in the Assam floods taking the toll in the current wave to 41 even as the situation in the state today remained grim with an estimated 18 lakh people affected.

Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said in a release that two persons died at Mayong and Laharighat in Morigaon district, while another two died at Lakhipur in Goalpara.

One person lost his life at Barkhetri in Nalbari district yesterday, it said.

With this, the current wave of floods has claimed 41 lives as an estimated 18 lakh people reeled under flood waters in 1,880 villages across the state.

Five people had been washed away in floods late last month, taking the total death toll in two waves of floods this year to 46 in the state, according to ASDMA.

The affected villages were located in Dhemaji, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Sonitpur, Barpeta, Morigaon, Cachar, Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Tinsukia, Darrang, Nalbari, Kamrup, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Golaghat, Nagaon, Dhubri, Kamrup Metropolitan and Goalpara districts. The worst-hit is Dhubri district with nearly 4.5 lakh people affected.

ASDMA said nearly 1.1 lakh hectares of crop land are under water currently. District authorities have set up 277 relief camps in Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Cachar, Dhemaji, Tinsukia, Sonitpur, Nalbari, Dibrugarh, Morigaon, Nagaon, Golaghat, Kamrup, Goalpara and Dhubri, where nearly 1.4 lakh people are lodged, the release said.

There is no let up in the situation with river Brahmaputra now flowing above the danger mark at Nematighat in Jorhat district, Tezpur in Sonitpur, Guwahati, Goalpara town and Dhubri town, ASDMA said.

Rivers Burhidehing at Khowang in Dibrugarh, Dhansiri at Numaligarh in Golaghat, Jia Bharali at NT Road crossing in Sonitpur, Kopili at Dharamtul in Nagaon, Beki at Road Bridge in Barpeta and Kushiyara at Karimganj town are also flowing above the danger mark.

PTI