Stagnant Floodwaters Keep Over 10,000 Assam Residents Trapped in Relief Camps as Death Toll Reaches 98

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: Although floodwaters have receded by some degrees, there is stagnant water inside houses, and more than 10,000 people are still forced to take shelter in relief camps, including pregnant and lactating mothers, children and persons with disabilities. As of this evening, 55 relief camps and 18 relief distribution centres in flood-affected districts are operational. The death toll in this flood season is now pegged at 98 with another body recovered in the Charaideo district today.

The water level of the Noa River in Darrang district has gone down and is on a decreasing trend. However, floodwaters are still present in Outola, Mothonga, Bengabora, etc., in the same district. A female resident of the area commented, "As floodwaters entered our house, we took shelter in a relief camp. Today, when we went to check on our home, we found that stagnant floodwaters were still inside, and it's unliveable. We've sent our children to a relative's place. We have a pond in our compound, but all the fish escaped in the floodwaters. We appeal to the government to repair the damage to our houses."

A similar situation prevails in Betbari Bhahdhoragaon in the Sivasagar district, where floodwaters are still present in most of the houses in the village. Around 250 residents of the village have been sheltering in a B.Ed college nearby since July 20, a day after the deluge struck the Upper Assam districts of Sivasagar, Charaideo, Jorhat and Golaghat. A villager named Deba Baruah narrated his ordeal, saying, "On July 19, I got a call from a friend that the Dikhow River had overflowed its banks and floodwaters were rushing into Nazira. Until the morning of July 20, there was no water in our village, but after 11 a.m., the floodwaters started to flow into the village at a rapid pace. The onrush of floodwaters didn't cease for the rest of the day, and our village was submerged. It was like a tsunami striking us, and it was each man to himself. There was no scope for saving anything, only our lives. Luckily, the floods came in the daytime. If it had come at night, human lives would have been lost. The only higher ground in our village is the B.Ed college, and all of us took shelter there. Later on, floodwaters submerged even the ground floor of the B.Ed college building, and we were marooned. I'm aged 47 years now, but I have never seen anything like this flood in my entire life."

Another villager said that, for the first three days of the flood, they were cut off from any other place. There was scarcity of drinking water and rations. The children suffered more. It was only on July 23 that they started to receive rations from the local administration, he recalled.

Although the water level has gone down, floodwaters continue to affect villages like Nimaijan, Lunporiagaon, Dorikapar, Konwarpur, etc., in the Sivasagar district. Local people say it will take at least a week for the prevailing floodwaters to flow out, given the terrain of the currently affected area.

According to the latest information, there are still 10,326 persons lodged in 55 relief camps. Of this total, there are 4839 male inmates, 4334 females, 1085 children, 62 pregnant or lactating women and 6 persons with disabilities currently taking shelter in relief camps.

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