Villagers row a makeshift raft through a flooded field to reach a safer place at the flood-affected Mayong village in Assam's Morigaon district. Photo:Reuters
Death toll rises in India’s Assam as millions flee from floods
By Patryk Krych | The World Daily | JUNE 29th 2020
Millions were forced to flee their homes following severe flooding in the NorthEastern Indian state of Assam caused by the country’s seasonal monsoon rains. Two deaths had been reported by the authorities so far, and they also warn that the situation is worsening by the hour.
Over the weekend, the Brahmaputra River, known to be one of the largest rivers in the world, had flooded following monsoon rains and caused serious flood damages to the nearby state of Assam. This led to the submerging of nearly 2,000 villages in the state, and the subsequent evacuation of millions as residents lost their homes.
The river travels a long way, going from Tibet into India, and then into Bangladesh. The majority of the state’s primary rivers are in spate. 56,000 hectares of crop areas are thought to have sustained damage, and road communication has sustained a major hit as well.
According to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, district administrations had been given instructions that serve to help those affected by the incidents of flooding. He added that the situation was being monitored around the clock by the government, and that there is still much to do for the evacuated people.
“Two people have died in separate incidents of drowning in the past 24 hours and more than one million people have been affected, with the flood situation turning critical by the hour,” said a state government flood bulletin.
At least 23 of all of Assam’s 33 districts had been hit by the monsoon torrential rains. “The flood situation remains extremely grave with several embankments breached,” Minister of the Assam Water Resources, Keshab Mahanta said to Reuters. With more forecast instances of rainfall over the course of the next three days, the federal water resources body stated that it expects the water levels will still rise.
With two reported deaths, the total number of fatalities as a cause of flooding this year have officially gone up to 18. The State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said that the other areas affected by floods consisted of Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Udalguri, Darrang, Nalbari, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, South Salmara, and several other districts.
The National Disaster Response Force (SDRF), a specialised Indian response force constituted “for the purpose of specialist response to a threatening disaster situation or disaster,” along with district administrations, civil defence and Inland Water Transport had evacuated 9,303 people from five districts over the course of 24 hours.
Authorities went on to state that much of Kaziranga National Park, which serves as a home to the endangered one-horned rhino, was inundated. Rescue operations were launched all around the state by paramilitary personnel, ensuring that social distancing was maintained in relief camps as a means of minimising the spread of virus. Thus far, 7,492 cases of the coronavirus have been reported in Assam, along with 11 virus-related deaths.
By Patryk Krych | © The World Daily 2020
