Assam Floods: Over 55,000 people reel under deluge in Morigaon; villagers seek shelter on embankments, roads

According to the Morigaon District Administration, "The flood situation in Assam's Morigaon district is still grim as more than 55,000 people have been affected by the deluge. Thousand of villagers are now taking shelter on embankments, and roads after the flood waters entered into their homes."

As per the information from the district administration, 194 villages in the district are still submerged in the floodwaters.

Chandini Devi, from the Bhuragaon area in Morigaon district, told ANI that, for the last 4 days her family has been living in a makeshift tent on the embankment.

"On last Sunday night, I was sleeping with my child. At around 2 to 2.30 am flood waters entered our house. I had no idea what to do. When I came out of the house I saw that the water was 5-6 feet deep. I crossed the water along with my child and reached the road. My husband was able to collect some household goods but many other important items are still inside the house and have been damaged by the flood waters. For the last 4 days, we have been here. There are many problems which we are facing," Chandini Devi said.

Dipen Deka, another flood-affected villager said that, this year floods has submerged the area.

"Many people have lost their valuable goods in this flood and household goods were also damaged. We have been living in the floodwaters for the last 4 days. People are facing lots of problems," Dipen Deka said.

Meanwhile, Assam Agriculture Minister Atul Bora on Thursday visited the flood-affected areas in Morigaon district.

He also interacted with the flood-affected people who are now taking shelter on the embankment in the Bhuragaon area in the Morigaon district.

Atul Bora told ANI that, the water level of the Brahmaputra River is receding in the Morigaon district, but the flood situation is still grim.

"As instructed by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, I came to Morigaon to take stock of the flood situation. The situation is still grim and 28 districts of the state have been affected in this flood. Yesterday we had a meeting of the state cabinet head by the Chief Minister and he instructed us to visit the flood-affected districts," he said.

"The Assam CM instructed me to visit Morigaon and Nagaon districts. I discussed this with the district administration and as of today 55,459 people in the district have been affected by the deluge and 194 villages have been affected," informed Atul Bora.

Adding further, he said, "In Morigaon district, the flood waters submerged 12,963 hectares of crop area. I asked the district administration to offer their help to the flood-affected people."

"The Assam Chief Minister also held a video conference with the District's Commissioner and directed them to do a comprehensive damage assessment soon and provide succour to households by August 15. Our government is trying its best to help the flood-affected people and provided relief materials," Atul Bora said.

The Assam Agriculture Minister also said that the farmers of the state will not face more damage because this flood comes in July.

"Our department is doing community nursery in every district. We will try our best to help the affected farmers. Rs 381 crore was released to the farmers under PM Kishan Samman Nidhi scheme's 17th instalment. The water level of the Brahmaputra River in Morigaon is now gradually receding, but other rivers' water levels are increasing. So the administration is on alert, and rescue teams are also in place. Three people died in Morigaon district. There is also a lot of damage here due to the flood," Atul Bora said.

Nearly 40,000 crop areas across the state have been submerged by flood waters.

Meanwhile, seventeen wild animals, including a rhino calf and hog deer, drowned in Kaziranga National Park, while 72 were rescued by the forest authorities, an official said.

According to the official, 32 wild animals are currently under treatment and 25 others were released.

The flood situation in Assam's Kaziranga National Park is still grim, as 173 forest camps in the park are still reeling under the flood situation.

Sonali Ghosh, Field Director of Kaziranga National Park, said, "The park authorities and forest department have rescued 55 Hog Deer, two otters (infants), two Sambar, two Scops Owls, one rhino calf, one Indian Hare, one Jungle cat, etc.

"Meanwhile, floods in Assam have so far claimed 46 lives. Eight people died on Wednesday in the state after drowning in flood waters.

The overall flood situation in the state is still critical as over 16.25 lakh people of 29 districts have been affected by the second wave of flood.

The flood affected districts are Goalpara, Nagaon, Nalbari, Kamrup, Morigaon, Dibrugarh, Sonitpur, Lakhimpur, South Salmara, Dhubri, Jorhat, Charaideo, Hojai, Karimganj, Sivasagar, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Dhemaji, Hailakandi, Golaghat, Darrang, Biswanath, Cachar, Kamrup (M), Tinsukia, Karbi Anglong, Chirang, Karbi Anglong West, Majuli.

Over 3.86 lakh people are taking shelter in 515 relief camps and distribution centres set up by the administration in 24 flood-hit districts.

The ASDMA said that 11,20,165 animals were also affected by the deluge.

Rescue teams of the NDRF, SDRF, Fire and Emergency Services, administration, Indian army, and paramilitary forces are engaged in rescue operations in different areas and on Wednesday rescued 8377 people. (ANI)