Assam reports 2nd death due to flood; 3 lakh affected in nine districts

One more person died due to floods in Assam on Thursday, which inundated nine districts affecting nearly three lakh people and destroying over 21,500 hectares of farmland, an official bulletin said here.

Flood water has receded from two districts. On Wednesday, 11 districts were flooded affecting 2.72 lakh people, according to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) bulletin.

A total of 2,94,170 people are now reeling under the impact of the deluge in Dhemaji, Nagaon, Hojai, Darrang, Nalbari, Goalpara, West Karbi Anglong, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts, it said adding that water has receded in Lakhimpur and Barpeta.

The ASDMA bulletin said the first wave of the flood this monsoon have so far claimed two lives in worst-hit Goalpara district where 2.01 lakh people were affected.

The Brahmaputra river is flowing above the danger marks at Neamatighat in Jorhat district and Kopili in Nagaon, it said. The NDRF and SDRF have rescued 492 people in Goalpara, West Karbi Anglong and Hojai districts.

Nearly 20,000 people displaced by the flood have taken shelter in relief camps in Goalpara, Tinsukia and Hojai districts, the ASDMA said.

Embankments, roads, bridges and culverts have been damaged at various places by the flood in various districts.

A total of 39.58 per cent of Assam's geographical area is flood-prone and more than one wave of flood ravage this zone almost every year, official sources said.