Assam Floods: 5 Of A Family Killed In Landslide, Over 1.61 Lakh Affected

The floods in Assam have claimed 26 lives till now and affected over 1.61 lakh people across 470 villages. A landslide in Badarpur area of Karimganj district left five members of a family dead.

Guwahati: Five members of a family, including a three-year-old boy were killed in a massive landslide triggered by heavy rains in Assam's Karimganj district on Tuesday night.

The incident took place at around midnight in Tajurtal village of Bendergol area of Badarpur. The bodies were recovered from the debris by SDRF teams. The deceased have been identified as Abdul Karim's wife Raimun Nessa (55), his daughters Saheda Khanam (18), Zaheda Khanam (16) and Hamida Khanam (11) and grandson Mehedi Hasan (3).

So far, 26 people have died due to floods this year. One person died in Hailakandi a day ago. Nitai Shabdkar (39) was swept away by a stream while he was passing through the floodwaters in the Saspur Mohantila area. Locals rescued him and took him to SK Roy Civil Hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead.

1.61 lakh people in 470 villages affected:

According to the latest data from the State Disaster Management Authority, 1.61 lakh people across 470 villages have been affected in the ongoing floods. The flood-hit districts are Tamulpur, Bongaigaon Karimganj, Lakhimpur, Udalguri, Darrang, Dhemaji, Nagaon, Hojai, Chirang, Barpeta, Baksa, Nalbari and Goalpara and Biswanath. Karimganj district has been the worst-hit where 210 villages have been severely affected by the floods.

Nearly 60 hectares of agricultural land have been damaged in the floods with most plots being in Bongaigaon district. Also, 39,906 livestock have been damaged. The flood-affected people have been accommodated in 3982 shelter camps that have been arranged by the state government. All these camps are located in Karimganj district.

It has been learnt that the situation has deteriorated due to the release of water by the embankments in various places. One such area bearing the brunt is Kampur, where water released by the 275 MW Kapili hydroelectric project run by NEEPCO has put people of Hojai, West Karbi Anglong and Kampur in danger.

Road connectivity disrupted:

Road connectivity has also been disrupted in many parts of the state including the National Highway connecting Banderdewa-Itanagar. Similar disruptions were recorded on Silchar-Guwahati NH-6 in Meghalaya cutting off the Barak Valley with other parts of the state.

According to the Regional Meteorological Centre of Borjhar, the state received 23 percent less than normal rainfall from June 1 to 12. The weather office has predicted light to moderate rains in most parts of the state till June 24 and heavy to very heavy rainfall in some parts on June 19 and 20.

Rising water level a cause of concern:

The rising water level in the rivers have become a concern. As per data available with the Central Water Commission on last evening, the water level of the Kapili river in Nagaon-Kampur has receded slightly compared to previous days but it continues to flow above the danger mark. Kushiyara river in Karimganj has crossed the danger mark along with seven other rivers.

Barak in Karimganj, Kapili in Morigaon, Gaurang in Kokrajhar, Manah in Bongaigaon, Disang in Sivasagar, Sonkosh in Dhubri and Brahmaputra in Jorhat and Dibrugarh have crossed the warning mark but yet to cross danger level.

The Brahmaputra is flowing 0.04 metre, 0.18 metre, 0.06 metre above Nimatighat in Dibrugarh, Jorhat and Dhubri respectively. Barak is 0.78 meters above warning limit at Badarpurghat in Karimganj, Kapili 0.58 meters at Dharamtul in Morigaon, Gaurang river 0.55 meters in Kokrajhar, Manah 0.24 meters in Bongaigaon, Dichang 0.56 meters at Nanglamuraghat in Sivasagar, while Sonkosh river is flowing 0.2 meters above the warning level in Golakganj in Dhubri.

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