Guwahati: At least 16 people were reported dead in floods and landslides across the Northeast as large swathes of the region continued to receive torrential rainfall on Saturday.
The flood situation in Assam continued to deteriorate with one more person losing his life, taking the toll to seven, as over 14 lakh people were affected by the deluge across 25 districts of the state. While two deaths were reported from Arunachal Pradesh, five persons died in Meghalaya and two passed away in Mizoram.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal called Union Home Minister Amit Shah and briefed him about the latest flood situation in the state. Sonowal said 24x7 flood control rooms have been activated across the districts and that he is monitoring the situation personally.
Meanwhile, Shah assured all help from the Centre and asked the Assam government to ensure all-out efforts to provide relief to the flood-affected.
According to the daily flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), one person was killed at Sissibargaon in Dhemaji district. With this, the total number of persons who lost their lives in flood-related incidents in the state this year has gone up to seven.
Over 14.06 lakh persons have been affected by the floods in Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Sonitpur, Darrang, Baksa, Barpeta, Nalbari, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Goalpara, Kamrup, Morigaon, Hojai, Nagaon, Golaghat, Majuli, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Cacha and West Karbi Anglong districts, the ASDMA said. Barpeta is the worst hit with 5.22 lakh people suffering, followed by Dhemaji (1.38 lakh people) and Morigaon (nearly 95,000 persons).
Till Friday, around 8.7 lakh people were affected by the deluge in 21 districts of the state.
The NDRF and SDRF have rescued 848 persons in the last 24 hours across the state, while 4,476.74 quintals of rice, dal, salt and 7,907.11 litres of mustard oil have been distributed along with tarpaulin, water pouches and other essential items.
Currently, the Brahmaputra at Guwahati, Nimatighat in Jorhat, Tezpur in Sonitpur, Goalpara and Dhubri towns, while the Barak at AP Ghat in Cachar and Badarpurghat in Karimganj are flowing above the danger mark.
The ASDMA report said at present, 2,168 villages are under water and 51,752 hectares of crop areas have been damaged. It said authorities are running 234 relief camps and distribution centres in 21 districts where 20,047 people have taken shelter.
Embankments, roads, bridges, culverts and other infrastructure have been hit at various places in Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Kamrup, Barpeta, Baksa, Kokrajhar, Hojai, Darrang, Biswanath, Chirang, Dibrugarh, Nalbari, Dhubri, Majuli, Sivasagar, West Karbi Anglong, Hailakandi, Golaghat and Bongaigaon districts. Massive erosion has been reported at several places of Chirang, Barpeta, Sonitpur and Bongaigaon districts, the report added.
Meanwhile, heavy rains have damaged train tracks in Lumding-Badarpur hill section under the Lumding Division of Northeast Frontier Railway, prompting the authorities to cancel a number of trains in the area.
"The repair work has already started on a war footing and senior railway officers are camping at the site, monitoring the restoration work. But, heavy rain is continuing in the area, making the soil loose. It is expected that the restoration work will be completed by July 16 if the weather condition does not deteriorate further," NF Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Pranav Jyoti Sarma said.
Hundreds affected in Mizoram
At least 600 families have been forced to move to safer places in south Mizoram's Lunglei district as the raging waters of Khawthlangtuipui river, also known as the Karnaphuli, and its tributaries submerged nearly 400 houses, officials said Saturday.
The entire Serhuan village (122 houses) and Tiperaghat (120) were submerged as the rain fury continued unabated, the officials said, adding at least 150 houses were submerged in Tlabung town of the district.
While a total of eight villages were affected by the floods, no information could be obtained from those along the Bangladesh border as communication lines have been badly affected, an official said.
Meanwhile, the body of a man who drowned in river Tlawng on Thursday was yet to be traced, an official said. Voluntary divers, adventure club members and State Disaster Response Force personnel continued their search, he said.
On Friday, officials had said that two men drowned and 390 houses submerged in floods triggered by incessant rain across Mizoram. A 53-year-old man drowned in the Tlawng river near Aizawl when a bamboo raft he was rowing with two friends capsized on Thursday, while his friends swam to safety.
In another incident, a man collecting crabs in the jungle near south Mizoram's Lunglei town also drowned on Thursday. His body was recovered on Friday.
Disaster management and rehabilitation officials had said landslides made many places inaccessible. A total of 119 families were rescued from one of the affected villages.
(With inputs from PTI)
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