Flood situation in Assam remains critical, 8 more deaths, 23 lakh still affected

There was marginal improvement in the overall flood situation in Assam but the situation remained critical as eight more people died in six districts on Sunday while around 23 lakh people have been affected in 28 of the states 35 districts officials saidAccording to Assam State Disaster Management Authority ASDMA officials over 2420 lakh people in 30 districts had been affected till FridayASDMA officials said that two people each drowned in Dhubri and Nalbari districts while one each died in Goalpara Cachar Dhemaji and Sivasagar districtsWith Sundays deaths the toll has climbed to 66 with many people dying due to landslides and other calamities in different districts since the monsoon began early last monthASDMA officials said that the flood water also inundated over 68432 hectares of crop area in 3446 villages under 28 districts while over 1563 lakh domestic animals have also been badly affected by the monsoonOut of the 28 floodaffected districts Dhubri Morigaon Cachar Darrang Dibrugarh and Barpeta are the worst hitThe Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger level at Neamatighat Tezpur and Dhubri while Burhidihing Dikhou Disang Dhansiri Kopili Beki Sankosh and Kushiyara rivers are near the danger level in many placesASDMA officials also said that the district administrations have set up 630 relief camps to provide shelter to over 53689 people while 361 more relief distribution centres are functioning in different districtsSeveral teams of the National and State Disaster Response Forces accompanied by volunteers of various NGOs have also been deployed for the rescue and relief operationsLike in previous years a vast area of the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve KNPTR has been submerged and park authorities have intensified efforts to rescue the animals and to prevent poachingKNPTR Director Sonali Ghosh said that so far 96 wild animals have been rescued while 129 animals including deer rhino and hog deer have drowned in flood watersChief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who is regularly reviewing the flood situation in the state visited the Kamrup district on Sunday and met affected people and local officials Later Sarma told the media that the governments focus is to find a national solution to the Assam flood unlike those who only want to declare it a national problemIn 2004 there were 400 embankment breaches while today we have only four such breaches We are working on a permanent solution Government working to find a longterm solution to flood in Assam he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever