2.96 lakh grappling monsoon floods, landslides in Assam, 5 dead in Karimganj landslides

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaJune 19, 2024

The flood situation worsened in Assam with 19 districts reeling under floodwater affecting 2,96,384 population from 979 villages under 48 revenue circles, according to the official bulletin of Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) on Wednesday.

The rain-induced landslides also affected four districts- Kamrup Metro, Karimganj and Dima Hasao district.

Five members of a family died when a landslide buried their house in Karimganj district on Tuesday night. The incident took place in the Tajurtal area of Anglarbazarat around 12.30 am.

The deceased have been identified as Rahimun Nessa (55), Sahida Khanam (18), Jahida Khanam (16), Hamida Khanam (11) and Mehedi Hasan (3).

A team from the district administration arrived at the scene around 2:30 am and sent the bodies for post-mortem examination.

Karimganj is the worst affected district in the flood with a 2,45,379 population from 280 villages under Nilambazar, Patherkandi, RK Nagar, Karimganj and Badarpur revenue circles affected by the deluge.

19 affected districts are Kamrup, South Salmara, Goalpara, Nagaon, Bongaigaon, Lakhimpur, Hojai, Darrang, Nalbari, Karimganj, Udalguri, Tamulpur, Hailakandi,  Biswanath, Barpeta, Cachar, Baksa, Bajali and Sonitpur.

In Bongaigaon district, 334 hectares of cropland were submerged by floodwater at Srijangram.

In Darrang district, 700 mtr LT conductors were damaged at Raja Hawli, Chenibari, Begarkash villages under Pub Mangaldai revenue circle due to heavy rain and flood.

In Goalpara district, the water level of Habri River is overflowing at Dudhnoi due to blockage of drainage in an under-construction pool.

Kokrajhar and Kamrup districts have been affected by urban floods.

In Kokrajhar, the water logging is slowly receding with the decrease in rainfall.

In Kamrup Metro district, rainwater caused waterlogging in many places of Guwahati city, including Azara and Dharapur Natun Basti areas.

81 relief camps and 24 relief distribution centres were opened for the affected people.

Altogether 1,21,166 people, including 27 pregnant women and 3,059 children were sheltered in the relief camps.

10,827 non-camp inmates have been provided relief materials.

2,53,413 animals were affected across the state by the deluge.

1269.56 quintals of rice, 185.14 quintals of dal, 154.18 quintals of salt and 5428.06 litres of mustard oil were distributed among the affected people.

Meanwhile, IMD predicted widespread light to moderate rainfall, accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds across Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, and Sub-Himalayan West Bengal.

A cyclonic circulation hovering over northeast Assam, coupled with strong southwesterly and southerly winds from the Bay of Bengal, is set to bring widespread rainfall and severe weather conditions to the northeastern region of India over the coming days.