Staff Reporter
Guwahati: The flood situation in Upper Assam has turned critical since last night, and the Dikhow River in Sivasagar is now flowing in an 'extreme flood situation'. Floods have mainly affected Sivasagar, Jorhat and Charaideo districts. Villagers in flood-affected areas spent a sleepless night, fearing the situation would become more dangerous. Many took shelter on the roofs of their houses while others climbed trees to escape the deluge overnight.
With 5 deaths occurring in the past 24 hours, the death toll from floods has risen to 10. 4 people perished in the Jorhat district, with 1 death recorded in Karbi Anglong.
SDRF and NDRF teams are on the ground, rescuing many people from the raging waters. The Indian Air Force has choppers on standby in Upper Assam districts to render assistance to the flood-affected people.
There is suspicion that a cloudburst in the Mon district of Nagaland contributed to heavy rainfall and flooding of rivers flowing in from Nagaland, causing floods in several Upper Assam districts.
Sonari town is completely inundated, with the level of flood water rising to almost half of the height of the shutters in shops, damaging goods in the shops. The Sonari branch of the State Bank of India has floodwaters up to the desks. The floodwaters rose all of a sudden, and numerous vehicles of the town's residents were damaged.
The floodwaters completely submerged NH 715 in the Teok area of the Jorhat district, severely disrupting vehicle movement. Movement of vehicles in this flooded stretch is being regulated.
Floodwaters also affected the railway tracks in the Nazira constituency. NF Railway had to cancel several trains, while others were diverted through alternative routes.
Floodwaters from the Dipholu and Daigrung rivers have affected several villages in Bokakhat. Sivasagar district is the worst-affected, while Demow is also reeling under floods. The Bhogdoi River in Jorhat has breached the embankment at one spot, and floodwaters have inundated several villages.
As per local reports, two girls declared missing in Titabor earlier have now been confirmed dead.
Following directions from Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, ministers Susanta Borgohain, Keshab Mahanta, Ajanta Neog, and Bimal Borah visited several areas in flood-affected Upper Assam. Another minister, Atul Bora, also visited areas affected by the sudden rise in floodwaters.
Talking to the media, Water Resources Minister Susanta Borgohain said, "I've never seen such floods in my entire life. The places I was born in and used to roam about are inundated by floodwaters. Cloudbursts in the Mon and Mokokchung districts of Nagaland led to heavy rainfall, and the excess water came down to the plains of Assam. The heavy rainfall has caused the sudden floods. Our first priority is to save human lives so that we can rescue them and shift them to safer places. The damage to property, livestock and standing crops will be assessed later. Four choppers of the Indian Air Force are on standby, and they will be used in rescue and relief operations, if necessary. NDRF rescued hundreds of people today. Nazira, Amguri and Jhanji are the worst-affected places."
As per the evening report of CWC, the Brahmaputra River is flowing above the danger level at Neamatighat in the Jorhat district, along with the Buridihing River at Chenimari in the Dibrugarh district. The other rivers flowing above the danger level are the Dikhow in Sivasagar, Disang at Nonglamoraghat in the Sivasagar district and the Dhansiri at Numaligarh in the Golaghat district.
Significantly, the Dikhow River is flowing above the highest flood level in history. The water level at 6 pm was 94.64 metres, against the earlier highest flood level of 94.34 metres.
A flood report released by Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) states that 30 revenue circles in 16 districts have been affected by the recent wave of floods. The districts named are Jorhat, Charaideo, Sonitpur, Dibrugarh, Chirang, Udalguri, Biswanath, Golaghat, Cachar, Dhemaji, Tinsukia, Nagaon, Karbi Anglong, Kamrup, Kamrup (M), Sivasagar. As of date, as many as 1,70,327 people are affected in 580 villages.
Regarding the flood rescue operation, the report stated that a total of 6 teams of 12th Bn NDRF (186 personnel with 24 boats) are deployed in Sivasagar and Charaideo districts, and 2 teams of 1st Bn NDRF (60 personnel with 10 boats) are engaged in Jorhat District. SDRF teams from other districts have also been pressed into the rescue operations in Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat and Golaghat districts.
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