Now, Assam CM Sonowal’s village faces threat of being washed away by floodwaters

Reports say that the native village of Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal is facing the threat of being washed away by floodwaters.

Guwahati, August 18: The devastating floods in Assam have spared none, literally. From posh urban areas to remotest corners of the state, floodwaters have engulfed almost every length and breadth of the northeastern state.

Now, reports say that the native village of Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is facing the threat of being washed away by floodwaters. The woes of CM's village, Mulukgaon under Chabua revenue circle in Dibrugarh district, have been aggravated because of perennial erosion affecting the upper region of Assam.

Along with his village, CM's paternal house is also facing the heat of floods as it is just 500 metres away from the Dibru river, where water is flowing above the danger level.

The tiny village of the CM, Mulukgaon, has at least 80 houses where around 300 people stay. The villagers fear that if rains continue then soon the entire village would be washed away.

The Chabua revenue circle is one of the worst flood-affected areas in the state, this year. Because of floods since June, many people of Chabua are already staying in relief camps set-up by the state government.

Chabua member of legislative assembly (MLA) Binod Hazarika told The Telegraph, "I have visited the place to take stock of the erosion, which is posing a serious threat to the people of the area. In the last 10 years, the river has come closer to the village because of constant erosion. Earlier, the river was 10 km from the residence of the CM."

"Our government is serious about the problem and the dredging of the Brahmaputra river will start soon. If the erosion continues for a year, the whole area will be gobbled up by the river," he added.

The residents of the CM's village are unhappy that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not do much to solve the twin issues of floods and erosion.

"We are facing the wrath of constant erosion. This year, 800-900 hectares were eroded under Bindhakata gaon panchayat. We have voted the BJP to power to solve this perennial problem and we hope that the government will solve it,'' said Sailen Saikia, a resident of Mulukgaon.

The flood situation in Assam remained very critical on Thursday as 10 more people lost their lives while 31.55 lakh are still affected in 24 districts of the state. With Thursday's deaths, the toll in the latest wave of floods in the state rose to 49. The overall death figure in this year's flood in Assam is 133.

According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), 2,584 villages are inundated and 1.67 lakh hectares of crop area are damaged across the state.

Authorities are running 602 relief camps and distribution centres in 21 districts, where 1,01,035 people have taken shelter. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and district administration personnel have rescued nearly 3,500 people to safer places in many districts.

The floods have damaged embankments, roads, bridges and other infrastructures in several districts of the state. Currently, the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries are flowing above the danger mark in several parts of Assam.

Vast forest areas in Kaziranga National Park, Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary and Lawkhua wildlife sanctuary are under the flood waters, the ASDMA report said.

Meanwhile, the Indian Railways on Thursday said it has begun restoration work of damaged rail tracks and bridges to restart train services as soon as possible.

"While the overall flood situation continues to be grim in most part of Bihar and railway tracks remains breached in many locations, the Northeast Frontier (NF) Railway has started restoration work in all locations on a war footing," NF Railway chief public relations officer Pranav Jyoti Sharma said in a statement.

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