Assam's Lakhimpur Flooded Due To Heavy Rain, Dam Breach

Heavy rain led to a flash flood in Dhemaji and Lakhimpur districts of Assam on Wednesday. Over 20,000 people were affected in Lakhimpur's Nowboicha while a hundred others were affected in Dhemaji.

Reports suggest the heavy rain led to a breach at the Subansiri dam in Lakhimpur.

Heavy torrential rains caused the flash flood with high rising tides hitting the hill slopes on either side of Subansiri river, near the Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric Project (SLHEP), Gerukamukh, causing landslides and a rise in water levels.

The water current breached a temporary dyke or embankment, built for the powerhouse of the hydroelectric plant, inundating the area.

The breached dyke was supposed to be brought down in coming days and there's no threat to the power house, said an official of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC).

Nineteen villages were flooded and crops across 13.5 hectares of land were damaged, said a bulletin by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority.

However, no river in the state is flowing above the danger mark, it added.

The Guwahati-based weather office has forecast heavy rain over the next five days. An orange alert, which implies prepared for action, has been issued for the first three days, and a yellow alert for the next two days.