Flood affected villagers in Assam
Nearly three lakh people have been affected by floods in Assam which has claimed seven lives and has hit 15 districts of the state.
According to a release issued by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) on Sunday, 2.87 lakh people have been affected across 1,066 villages in 15 districts in the state and 90,867 hectares of cropland have been affected.
"Seven persons have died in the current wave of flood, one each in Lakhimpur, Dhubri, Nalbari, Golaghat and Barpeta and two in Morigaon," the release stated.
The authorities have evacuated 2,424 people to safer places and 118 relief camps have been opened, providing shelter to 95,922 inmates, the release stated.
Already, embankments across the state have suffered 15 breaches. These have occurred on Ranganadi river in Lakhimpur, Solengi, Brahmajan and Sessa in Sonitpur, Mora Pagladiya in Nalbari and Pahumara in Barpeta; besides those in Dhemaji district.
The 15 flood-affected districts are Dhemaji, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Sivasagar, Sonitpur, Lakhimpur, Nalbari, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Morigaon, Kamrup, Dhubri, Kokrajhar and Karbi Anglong.
The Brahmaputra and tributaries are flowing above the danger level at Nematighat in Jorhat, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, the statement said.
Jia Bharali river in Sonitpur, Kopili at Kampur and Beki in Barpeta are also flowing above the danger mark, it added.
The flood situation has slightly improved in Dhubri, Kokrajhar and Karbi Anglong districts, the release stated.
Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi directed the Revenue and Disaster Management Department to rescue the marooned people and to gear up relief and rehabilitation of the affected people.
Mr Gogoi asked Chief Secretary Jitesh Khosla and Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue and Disaster Management) Subhash Chandra Das to take all possible measures to rescue the marooned people and to step up relief and rehabilitation measures across the state, the release stated.
The Chief Minister also directed the Water Resources Department to take up immediate anti-erosion measures, especially in the breached embankments.
Meanwhile, at least 65 villages in the world's largest river island Majuli were submerged in flood waters caused by Brahmaputra, officials said.
Jorhat Deputy Commissioner Vishal Vasanth Solanki said ferry services from Nematighat have been suspended, cutting communication link to Majuli, as water level rose last night.
Kamrup Metro district official said ferry services between North and South Guwahati have been stopped due to rising Brahmaputra water level.
The authority has asked people to commute by road via Saraighat bridge on Brahmaputra.
Meanwhile, Majuli SDO(Civil) Loya Madhuri said prohibitory orders under Section 144 have been imposed on ferry services between Nematighat and Majuli.
"Sometimes some local boats commute with a large number of people secretly. So to stop them, we have imposed Section 144 on ferry services on Brahmaputra," she added.