Floods render 2 lakh homeless in Assam

The flood situation in Assam continues to remain grim affecting over two lakh people.

Most rivers, including the Brahmaputra, were flowing above the danger level, officials said.

The floods have affected mainly Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Barpeta and Sonitpur districts. The situation is worse in Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts bordering Arunachal Pradesh where the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been engaged in relief and rescue operations.

The officials said 1,45,831 people in 162 villages of Lakhimpur district and 61,478 people in 133 villages of neighbouring Dhemaji district had been affected.

“The situation had improved significantly on Monday. But heavy rains on the foothills and the plains late on Monday night submerged a number of villages. Road communication between Lakhimpur and Dhemaji remained snapped for a few hours before being restored,” Chowdhury said.

“The NDRF rescued and shifted around 40 villagers to safer locations last night,” he said. Chowdhury attributed the floods to environmental degradation.

“The floods are caused by environmental degradation. Vegetation cover has decreased drastically because of the felling of trees on the foothills,” he observed.