Assam Flood: Red Alert issued, more than 30,000 people affected

A woman and her child stand near their house submerged in flood waters at a village, in Morigaon district, Monday, June 19, 2023. Pic/PTI

An official in Assam said that the flood situation in Assam was serious on Tuesday with nearly 31,000 people still reeling under the deluge across 10 districts of the state, news agency PTI reported.

According to PTI report, the India Meteorological Department has issued a 'Red Alert' and predicted 'very heavy' to 'extremely heavy' rainfall across several districts of Assam over the next five days.

In a 'Special Weather Bulletin', IMD's Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Guwahati issued a 'Red Alert' for 24 hours from Monday, followed by 'Orange Alerts' for the subsequent two days and 'Yellow Alert' for Thursday.

'Red Alert' signifies taking immediate action, while 'Orange Alert' implies to be prepared for action and 'Yellow Alert' stands for watch and be updated. According to the daily flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), more than 30,700 people are hit due to floods in Chirang, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Nalbari, Sonitpur and Udalguri districts.

Lakhimpur district is the worst hit with over 22,000 people affected, followed by Dibrugarh with more than 3,800 people and Kokrajhar with almost 1,800 persons, it added.

The administration has been running 25 relief distribution centres in seven districts, but no relief camp is operating as of now. At present, 444 villages are under water and 4,741.23 hectares of crop areas have been damaged across Assam, ASDMA said.

Massive erosions have been witnessed in Biswanath, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Kamrup, Karimganj, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Morigaon, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sivasagar, Sonitpur, South Salmara, Tamulpur and Udalguri, the ASDMA said. Places in Dima Hasao, Kamrup Metropolitan and Karimganj have reported incidents of landslides due to heavy rainfall.

Embankments, roads, bridges and other infrastructure have been damaged by flood waters in Sonitpur, Nagaon, Nalbari, Baksa, Chirang, Darrang, Dhemaji, Goalpara, Golaghat, Kamrup, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh, Karimganj and Udalguri.

Urban flooding inundated many places across Cachar, Darrang, Jorhat, Kamrup Metropolitan, Kokrajhar and Nalbari districts. Brahmaputra's tributary Kopili at Kampur is flowing above the danger mark, the report said.

Meanwhile, The Indian Army continued its rescue operation for the stranded tourists after a bridge was swept away near Chungthang in North Sikkim due to landslides triggered by heavy rains a day earlier in the state, a press release said, news agency ANI reported.

(With inputs from PTI)