One died and over 2.71 lakh people of 11 districts affect in Assam flood:
Guwahati, May 27 : The flood situation in Assam on Tuesday turned worse as over 2.71 lakh people in 11 districts of the state have been affected in the first spate of flood, and one person died from drowning in floodwater.
According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), one person drowned in floodwaters at Rongia in Kamrup district.
A total of 2,71,655 people of 321 villages in 21 revenue circles of Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Nagaon, Hojai, Darrang, Barpeta, Nalbari, Goalpara, West Karbi Anglong, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia district have been affected by floods.
Nearly 16,700 flood affected people have taken shelter at 57 relief camps set up by the district administration.
Over 2.15 lakh people have been affected alone in Goalpara district followed by 22,332 people in Nalbari district.
The water levels of Brahmaputra river at Neamatighat in Jorhat district, Jia Bharali river in Sonitpur district and Puthimari river in Kamrup district are flowing above danger level mark.
A total of 2678 hectares crop area has been submerged by floodwaters and nearly 28,300 domestic animals and 9350 poultry affected.
On Tuesday, portions of eight embankments, several roads, bridges, culverts have been damaged by the floodwaters of Brahmaputra river and its tributaries in many places of the state.
Assam CM takes review of flood situation:
One person died from drowning in floodwater in Assam
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday directed all district administration for ensuring all COVID-19 protocols like social distancing, hand washing, wearing of masks etc. at the flood relief camps so that community spread of COVID-19 cases can be contained during the flood season.
Reviewing the current flood situation in the state with the officials of Assam State Disaster Management Authority and top officials of various other departments at Assam Administrative Staff College in Guwahati, the Assam Chief Minister directed the Deputy Commissioners of all districts to keep soap and water for handwashing, masks for inmates while properly sanitizing the flood relief camps and to ensure that no irregularities take place while distributing relief materials.
He also issued directions for releasing of ex-gratia within 48 hours by district administration for those losing life in floods.
Sonowal instructed the DCs to regularly review the relief distribution system so that accountability can be fixed if any irregularity takes place.
He also stressed on the need to keep an information board in all relief camps showing details of how much relief materials have been received by every individual inmate.
The Assam Chief Minister directed the power department to cut off power in all those transformers submerged in floods so that no case of electrocution takes place during the floods.
On being apprised about the LEWS advanced lightning warning system of ASDMA which can give a warning of impending lightning before 45 minutes, Sonowal instructed the department to use the system to reduce number of casualties in the state because of lightning.
Directing the PWD to take steps for repairing 157 roads damaged by floods in 8 districts, the Assam Chief Minister instructed the water resources department to keep a stock of materials such as RCC Porcupine, bamboo, sandbags etc. in all districts for taking immediate measures to safeguard the areas affected by erosion.
He also asked the officials of water resources department to go to the public and make them aware about delay in construction of embankments due to lockdown and heavy rainfall in the month of May.
Sonowal directed the ASDMA officials to disseminate information through advertisements in various media about the do’s and don’ts during floods, lightning, storm etc.
During the meeting Sonowal was apprised that an amount of Rs 386 crore has been released by Central Government as the first installment this year to State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) and he emphasized proper utilization of the fund for providing succour to those affected by flood in the state.
He also directed the Inland Water department to take precautionary measures to avoid boat mishaps during the rainy season and strictly enforce wearing of masks by crews and the passengers of ferries and the boats.
The Assam Chief Minister instructed the veterinary department to provide cattle feed to the domestic animals in the flood affected areas and also provide food to the wild animals in Kaziranga National Park and other such flood affected wildlife sanctuaries.
