5 die in boat capsize in Goalpara, Assam CM announces ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh to next of kin

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaJuly 12, 2024

The flood situation in Assam has improved marginally, even as seven more persons died and 12.33 lakh people were affected in the last 23 hours, according to an official bulletin of Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).

Seven more people died on Friday taking the toll to 90 (only floods). Five death cases have been reported from Goalpara district and one each from Nagaon and Jorhat districts.

Five people were killed when a small boat carrying about 20 people sank into flood waters at Simlitola under Rongjuli police station in Goalpara district on Thursday.

The deceased have been identified as Gouranga Malakar, Uday Sarkar, Jitu Karmakar, Prasenjit Saha and Sujan Malakar – all of them belonged to the same family.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while visiting the accident site and meeting the bereaved family, announced ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh for the next of kin of each victim.

Sarma said the people were returning after cremating one Anjana Malakar when the accident happened.

12,33,236 people from 2,406 villages and 75 revenue circles of 24 districts are affected.

The affected districts are- Cachar, Dhubri, Nagaon, Kamrup, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Nalbari, Barpeta, Dhemaji, Sivasagar, Goalpara, Jorhat, Morigaon, Lakhimpur, Karimganj, Darrang, Majuli, Biswanath, Hailakandi, Bongaigaon, South Salmara, Chirang, Tinsukia and Kamrup (M).

Dhubri is the worst affected district with 3,18,326 followed by Cachar with 1,48,609 population affected by the deluge.

The Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger level at Neamatighat, Tezpur and Dhubri, Burhidihing at Chenimari (Khowang), Disang at Nanglamura ghat and Kushiyara is flowing above the danger level at Karimganj.

180 wild animals, including 10 rhinos died in the UNESCO Heritage Site Kaziranga National Park till Friday, the park authorities said.

135 other animals were rescued by the forest personnel and 116 of them were released after treatment.

35 out of 233 forest camps have been inundated in the park.

The flood situation in Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, Orang National Park and Manas National Park is also improving trend.

The floods also damaged 2,550 houses, PWD roads, bridges and embankments across the state.

The authorities are running 186 relief camps and 130 relief distribution centres across the state. 39,203 inmates are still taking shelter at the relief camps while 2,56,448 non-camp inmates are receiving food and other relief materials from the government.

6,67,175 domestic animals are affected by the deluge.

Rescuers of NDRF and SDRF continued their rescue operation in Cachar, Dhubriand South Salmara districts.

The authorities distributed 3,621.01 quintals of rice, 666.3 quintals of dal, 6266.61 quintals of salt and 6266.61 litres of mustard oil among the affected people.