Even as Assam is fighting its battle against Covid-19, the floods brought on by heavy rains have made the situation in the state overly precarious. With four more people passing away in the state due to the floods, the death toll has now risen to 24. According to a report by IANS, more than 14 lakh people in the state’s 25 out of 33 districts have been affected.
According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, the Brahmaputra river in Jorhat, Sonitpur, Kamrup, Goalpara and Dhubri; Burihidihing at Chenimari; Dhansiri at Numaligarh; Jia Bharali at Sonitpur, Kopili at Nagaon; Beki at Barpeta and Kushiyara at Karimganj were flowing above danger levels.
The floods have hit 66 revenue circles and flood-hit districts in the state are – Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Udalguri, Chirang, Darrang, Nalbari, Barpeta, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat, Majuli, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Bongaigaon, South Salmara, Goalpara, Kamrup, Kamrup (Metro), Morigaon, Hojai, West Karbi Anglong and Tinsukia. A total of 209 houses in the state have been damaged.
As on June 30, a total of 2,235 villages have been affected and a total of 75,700.12 hectares of crops have been destroyed due to the floods. The state is currently housing 25,461 people in 265 relief camps. Around 819,645 big animals; 410,390 small animals and 774,967 poultry have been affected due to the floods. In total, 6,063.82 quintals of rice1412.30 quintals of wheat, 295.15 quintals of salt and 8,100.94 liters of oil had been distributed in the relief camps. As many as 3,245 persons have been evacuated by disaster management personnel in the districts of Dhemaji, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Dhubri and South Satmara.
Roads were damaged in Dhemaji, Majuli, Barpeta, Darrang, Bongaigaon, Nalbari, Goalghat, Dhubri while bridges Barpeta, Nalbari and Baksa.
The Kaziranga National Park and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary were partially inundated. Of the 223 forest camps in Kaziranga, 143 were inundated by the flooded Brahmaputra which flows through the park. The situation forced animals such as rhinos, elephants, deer etc to move towards highland within the park as well as the hills in neighbouring Karbi Anglong, The New Indian Express reported. In the RG Orang National Park too, 19 camps out of 40 have been affected by the floods.
The Central Water Commission too said that the rivers in Assam are flowing above dangerous levels and the situation continues to be severe.
River Brahmaputra at #Dhubri in DHUBRI district of Assam continues to flow in SEVERE SITUATION as on 30.06.2020 pic.twitter.com/4is1ojEKpm
— Central Water Commission Official Flood Forecast (@CWCOfficial_FF) June 30, 2020
Photographs taken in #Dhubri Town #Dhubri District #Assam State affected by #Flood Today is appended. pic.twitter.com/PvoBwXBMi8
— Central Water Commission Official Flood Forecast (@CWCOfficial_FF) June 29, 2020
Shillong Times reported Cabinet Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary saying that CM Sarbananda Sonowal has directed the deputy commissioners of the affected districts to monitor the arrangements at the camps and ensure that the guidelines set by the health department are adhered to.
Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) continues relief operations
Throughout CJP’s relief efforts during the Covid-19 outbreak in Assam, we also came across the people’s struggle during the floods. CJP volunteers reported that the situation of the people of Assam became more precarious after the release of water from Bhutan’s Kurishu River Dam made the flow of the Beki River more intense. As a result, floodwaters inundated many parts of Assam’s Barpeta district overnight.
Majidul Islam, CJP’s District Volunteer Motivator from Barpeta said, “When the CJP team visited the affected families of Shutirpathar, Kharballi and Shawnpur in Barpeta district we saw the devastation ourselves.”
Conveying the many perils of the flood-affected citizens during this time, Islam added, “Families have taken refuge on government platforms. CJP Team went to four such platforms to understand the situation. About 40 families have taken shelter on one platform. Among them there are ailing, elderly people and small children. These people have no food to eat, no clean drinking water and no toilets.”
Below are a few images captured by CJP’s volunteers even as they continue relief operations across the state.
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Floods affect 30,000 in Assam as Covid-19 cases continue to rise