Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: The flash floods that ravaged Upper Assam rigorously since July 19 this year relented after claiming the lives of 17 children, among the total toll of 105 in the state. Children losing lives in flood is quite common in Assam, where flood is perennial. It is high time the authority concerned carried out awareness for saving children from floods and other disasters.
According to the latest information, till the morning of August 18, as many as 105 people lost their lives in the state in this flood season, including two who died in urban floods - one each in Kamrup (M) and Morigaon districts.
Barring the two who died in urban floods, retaining 103 comprise 63 males, 23 females and 17 children. As many as six children died in the Sivasagar district alone, followed by five in Charaideo, four in Jorhat district, and one each in Golaghat and Karbi Anglong districts. Of the 17 children, 11 were boys and six were girls.
The highest overall flood toll of 53 this year is in the Sivasagar district. The breakup of toll in the other districts is: 22 in Charaideo, nine in Jorhat, eight in Golaghat, four in Karbi Anglong, three in Dhemaji, two in Biswanath, and one each in Udalguri and Sonitpur.
In the recent past, the flood toll was highest in 2022 when 181 people lost their lives in the state, followed by 160 in 2017, 149 in 2012, 122 in 2020 and 102 in 2019.
The state still has floods in 147 villages in five districts - Golaghat, Sivasagar, Nagaon, Biswanath and Jorhat. As many as 11 relief camps giving shelter to 942 people, including 125 children, are operational in the Golaghat district, Jorhat district, Nagaon district and the Sivasagar district.
This year's sudden floods in expected areas should be a lesson for all stakeholders in the state, especially for the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) that has the responsibility of bringing awareness. With floods relenting, the ASDMA needs to find mechanism to face flash floods, especially those occurring in unexpected areas.
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