Guwahati:  The flood situation in eastern Assam remains grim as 62 people died till Friday and hundreds of villages are under water. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called State Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to take stock of the rescue and relief operations in the 12 flood-hit districts. Expressing deep condolences over the loss of lives and properties, PM Modi assured the people of Assam of every possible support in their relief, rehabilitation and rebuilding efforts, informed Sarma.

According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, over 7 lakh people are affected by the current wave of Assam floods. Sivasagar district is the worst affected with 3.48 lakh sufferers, followed by Charaideo and  Jorhat. Other flood-hit districts include Golaghat, Dibrugarh, Hojai, Nagaon, Karbi Anglong,  Sonitpur, Biswanath, Dhemaji, Kamrup, etc. Earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah also sought an update from Sarma over the flood situation.

The personnel belonging to State Disaster Response Force, National Disaster Response Force, Army, Air Force along with local administration officials and volunteers continue round-the-clock rescue and relief operations. Sarma specifically directed State ministers namely Bimal Bora, Sushanta Borgohain, Pijush Hazarika, Keshav Mahanta and Ajanta Neog to look after the missions on the ground.  However, thousands of affected families are still deprived of essential relief materials including drinking water and healthcare aid as colossal damages are reported in a large number of embankments, roads, bridges and other infrastructures.

Assam Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya also chaired a high-level review meeting with the office-bearers belonging to the Assam unit of Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) at Lok Bhavan to assess the ongoing humanitarian response for flood-affected people across the State. Stressing the need for a robust and proactive response, Governor Acharya urged the concerned parties to further streamline its emergency response mechanism and also emphasized taking preventive measures to address the possible outbreak of water-borne and vector-borne diseases in the post-flood period.

Union ports, shipping and waterways minister Sarbananda Sonowal expressed deep concern over the severe flood situation in eastern Assam and assured all possible support to the State government. Mentioning that Assam's flood situation was discussed in detail during the recent Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sonowal revealed that both the Centre and Assam government were maintaining close coordination to deal with the situation. The former chief minister of Assam also added that extensive damage was reported to agricultural land, livestock and commercial establishments.

Some photos of the dire flood situation in Assam:

Source: Pressenza