Assam floods Update: 12 more die, toll rises to 151

• Image Credit: Internet

• Jul 1, 2022 | Kabir Chakraborty

Over 3.15 million Assamese in 26 different districts are still experiencing flood damage, according to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA). More than 300,000 flood victims are still being housed in 840 rescue camps all over Assam. 

Digital Desk: On Wednesday,
12 additional fatalities, including a toddler, were recorded across ten
districts, raising the overall death toll in Assam's floods to 151.

On Wednesday, there were two
fatalities in Cachar and Chirang, respectively, while there was just one
fatality each in Barpeta, Biswanath, Darrang, Golaghat, Kamrup Metro,
Lakhimpur, and Nagaon.

Over 3.15 million Assamese
in 26 different districts are still experiencing flood damage, according to the
Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA). More than 300,000 flood
victims are still being housed in 840 rescue camps all over Assam. According to
the ASDMA, 91,349.26 hectares of cropland were still under water as of
Wednesday, impacting people in 2,675 communities.

The worst-affected location
was still Silchar town in the Barak Valley, where vast portions were still
under water for ten days running. According to reports from the Central Water
Commission, major rivers like the Brahmaputra, Barak, Kopili, and Beki are
still flowing beyond the danger threshold (CWC).

In the upcoming three to
four days, according to Keerthi Jalli, Deputy Commissioner of the Cachar
district, the water is expected to completely recede from all metropolitan
areas.

Jalli said to HT, "Drinking
water is one of our concerns. Agencies are working on restoration operations.
In the upcoming three to four days, the flood waters should recede from all
affected locations if it doesn't rain heavily. We're attempting to make
packaged drinking water available throughout the city.

At Annapurna Ghat, the Barak
River is still flowing beyond the danger threshold, but some sluice gates have
been opened. In some places, machinery are used to pump out stagnant water. The
district government is also repairing the damaged embankment in the Bethukandi
region, from which significant water reached Silchar town on June 20.

Locals from the Bethukandi
region, however, claim that they addressed a letter to Cachar DC on June 4
indicating the damaged portion of the embankment, but the administration
apparently chose to ignore this. Cachar administration representatives declined
to comment on this.

Avishek Chakraborty, a
resident of Public School Road said, “The water is flowing from the Fatak
Bazaar area to our side. It smells bad and it’ll bring so many diseases I
believe.”

Tamal Kanti Banik, a leader
in the Congress and a prominent local businessman, stated: "Shops are
currently opening slowly and the amount of loss would be enormous. We have
urged the authorities to utilise medicine and pump out the water as soon as
possible.

According to Arup Paul,
assistant general manager of Silchar Electrical Division 1, more than 60% of
Silchar Town now has power. "We still need to re-establish power in Das
Colony, Subhas Nagar, sections of Bihar, Ashram Road, Chenkoorie Road, and
National Highway Road. Our crew is conducting an area survey there while only
43 transformers need to be restored, the man stated.

Unmanned aerial vehicles
(UAVs) are being deployed, according to the District Disaster Management
Authority (DDMA), Cachar, to create a flood map of Silchar town to show the
extent of the devastation.

According to DDMA
authorities, UNICEF, OXFAM, and the DDMA have set up boat-mounted water
purification equipment to assist the less fortunate in Silchar and its
surrounding areas.