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:
