Guwahati: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma visited several flood-affected areas in Upper Assam districts and announced an initial ex gratia of ₹4 lakh to the kin of each dead in the deluge.
Heavy rainfall battered several districts in Assam on Wednesday, aggravating the flood situation in the state that has affected 5.65 lakh people, with Sivasagar district being the worst-hit.
As many as 21 deaths were reported on Tuesday, according to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA). Sivasagar reported 13 fatalities, Charaideo five, Golaghat two and Jorhat one.
With these deaths, the toll in this year's flood in the state rose to 31. One more has died in urban flooding in Guwahati. Around 70 people are missing.
Aggravating the situation, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an 'Orange Alert' on Wednesday, asking people to be prepared for calamity, and a 'Yellow Alert' for the next four days as it predicted thunderstorms, lightning and heavy rains at isolated places.
The flood issue rocked the Assam Assembly with the opposition bringing an Adjournment Motion, to which the government said the scale of the natural calamity has caught the administration off guard as these 12 districts had not witnessed such a deluge in over 60 years.
"The flood has caused extensive damage. I have assured the affected families that they are not alone in this crisis. Our government is standing with them in every step of rehabilitation and rebuilding of livelihoods," the chief minister told reporters in Sivasagar.
Over complaints that a large section of people were not receiving relief, Sarma said that there have been difficulties in providing aid in villages which are under water.
"We have not been able to reach many places as there are no roads or any mode of communication. We cannot airdrop food items as it will fall in deep waters. We are waiting for the water to recede and trying our best to reduce the people's difficulties," he added.
After visiting Nazira in Sivasagar, Sarma said the situation is very concerning as at least 50 people are still missing while 18 bodies have been found so far.
"It is difficult to ascertain the exact death toll at the moment. It will be known after four to five days," he said, adding that several areas in Sivsagar remain beyond reach, even by boats. The government is deploying drones to deliver essential supplies, the CM said.
According to ASDMA's daily flood report issued on Tuesday midnight, more than 5,64,600 people have been affected in Biswanath, Charaideo, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Jorhat, Kamrup, Kamrup Metropolitan, Karbi Anglong, Nagaon, Sivasagar and Tinsukia districts.
Nearly 3.6 lakh people have been affected by the deluge in Sivasagar alone, followed by around 88,000 in Jorhat and 72,500 in Charaideo.
Multiple agencies like the Army, NDRF, SDRF, Fire and Emergency Service, and police have rescued more than 6,000 people from different parts of Charaideo, Golaghat, Jorhat and Sivasagar.
Raising the issue in the Assam Assembly, Congress sought to bring an adjournment motion to discuss the flood situation, but it was rejected by Speaker Ranjeet Kumar Dass.
Deputy leader of the Congress Legislature Party Joy Prakash Das sought to know the relief operations being carried out by the government and asked for suspension of the ongoing Budget Session for two days for an assembly committee to visit the affected areas.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pijush Hazarika said the government is doing its best to ensure relief and rescue operations.
"The administration was caught off guard as the worst affected areas in the eastern part of the state had not witnessed such a deluge in over six decades," he added.
On a visit to the flood-affected areas, CM Sarma interacted with people reeling under the deluge in Charaideo. "Medical teams and all essential services are in place. I assured every family that we will stand by them," he added.
He further said the unprecedented flood on the southern bank of Upper Assam was triggered by a massive cloudburst in Nagaland.
"We will work with the Nagaland government to strengthen our early warning systems and mitigation measures. We will talk to them if hill cutting was also responsible for such an unprecedented flood," the Assam CM said.
The Brahmaputra river is flowing above the danger mark at Neamatighat. Its tributary Buridihing is in spate in Khowang, while Dhansiri is flowing above the danger level at Golaghat and Numaligarh.
In Sivasagar, the Dikhou river and the Disang in Nanglamuraghat are flowing above the highest flood level, ASDMA said.
