10 dead in Assam floods, rains displace over 1mn

Heavy monsoon rains in Assam have displaced more than 1mn people from their homes and flash floods killed at least 10 in the past 72 hours, state authorities said yesterday, warning the situation could worsen in coming days.
The Brahmaputra river, which flows from the Himalayas into India and then through Bangladesh, has burst its banks, swamping more than 1,800 villages in the state.
“Ten people have died in separate incidents of drowning in the past three days and more than 1mn people (have been) affected, with the flood situation turning grave,” a state government flood bulletin said.
Torrential rains have affected at least 25 of Assam’s 32 districts and the federal water resources body said water levels in the Brahmaputra were expected to rise, with more rains forecast over the next three days.
“The flood situation remains extremely critical,” Assam’s Water Resources Minister Keshab Mahanta told Reuters.
Assam, known for its fine quality teas, has for several years battled floods and heavy rains that have claimed dozens of lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
Assam was on a maximum alert due to heavy rains forecast over the next few days, government officials said.
People in the state were also at threat from Japanese encephalitis, a mosquito-borne viral infection, government officials said. More than 160 people have been killed since January by the infection.
The federal government said it had met to review flooding across different parts of the country, and emergency teams had rescued 750 people in Assam and Bihar, where the Kosi River had risen above the danger mark.
The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said yesterday that 25 districts of the state are under water.
According to the ASDMA, a total of 1,405,711 people have been affected by the deluge in 25 districts.
One person died in a flood-related incident in Dhemaji in last 24 hours taking the death toll to seven due to floods and landslides.
“Over 20,000 people are living in 234 relief camps opened by the district administration,” an official of the ASDMA said yesterday, adding that 51,722 hectares of agricultural land has also been submerged so far affecting the farmers.
The flood situation in Dhemaji and Lakhimpur remains the worst where most of the people have been affected.
Several houses, roads and bridges have also been damaged after breach of embankments led to flooding in many areas, officials said.
Meanwhile, the incessant rains have also affected the movement of trains in Assam and the Northeast Frontier Railway suspended train movement on the Lumding-Badarpur Hill section cutting off five states including Tripura, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Meghalaya from the country’s railway map till July 16.
“At least 15 trains have either been cancelled or terminated due to the suspension of the train movement on the stretch,” said Northeast Frontier Railway’s Chief Public Relations Officer, P J Sharma while adding that movement of trains on the section is likely to resume after July 16.
“Settlement occurred on tracks between Jatinga Lumpur — New Harangajao station in Lumding — Badarpur hill section on Friday due to incessant rains making it unsuitable for train movement. The repairing work has already started. But heavy rain is continuing in that area making the soil loose. It is expected that the restoration work will be completed by July 16,” Sharma said yesterday.