Assam Floods: 55 Dead As Heavy Rains, Landslides Sweep Away Homes And Roads; PM Modi Dials CM Himanta Sarma

The flood situation in Assam worsened as incessant rainfall pounded the state for fifth consecutive day on Saturday. PM Modi dialed Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and assured help from Centre.

Guwahati: With homes and roads being swept away, the flood situation in Assam remained grim as incessant rainfall pounded the state for fifth consecutive day on Saturday. Nine more people, including two children, died in rain-related incidents in Assam, raising the toll in this year’s floods and landslides to 55, a bulletin by the state’s disaster management authority said. The deaths were reported from Hojai, Nalbari, Bajali, Dhubri, Kamrup, Kokrajhar, and Sonitpur districts.

As the flood situation in Assam worsened, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday dialed Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and assured help from Centre. In a tweet, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said,”At 6 am today,Hon PM Shri @narendramodi ji called me to enquire about #flood situation in #Assam. While expressing his concerns over the hardships being faced by people due to this natural calamity, Hon PM assured all help from Central Govt. Humbled by his reassuring generosity.

At 6 am today,Hon PM Shri @narendramodi ji called me to enquire about #flood situation in #Assam. While expressing his concerns over the hardships being faced by people due to this natural calamity,Hon PM assured all help from Central Govt.

Humbled by his reassuring generosity.

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) June 18, 2022

Assam | Severe waterlogging continues in different parts of Guwahati as a result of incessant rains in the past few days. (17.06)

(Visuals from Hatigaon area) pic.twitter.com/tmaGuTllr6

— ANI (@ANI) June 18, 2022

Assam | The flood water is overflowing on National Highway 15 at Sipajhar area in Darrang district.

Hundred of trucks have been stranded on the National Highway after the Darrang district administration has stopped all vehicular movement on the highway. (16.10) pic.twitter.com/0zdqcFmswE

— ANI (@ANI) June 17, 2022

Assam Floods | Top developments

• A total of 18.94 lakh people have been affected by the heavy rain and subsequent flood and landslides in 28 districts of the state, the bulletin issued by Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said.
• In Assam, landslides were reported in Dima Hasao, Goalpara, Hojai, Kamrup and Kamrup (Metropolitan) and Morigaon. Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal called up Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and discussed the situation with him, according to state officials.
• Several rivers, including Brahmaputra, Kopili, Paladadiya, Jia-Bharali, Manas and Beki, are flowing above the danger level in the state. An alert was sounded in Karbi Anglong, Morigaon and Nagaon districts as four sluice gates of NEEPCO’s hydroelectric project were opened in Dima Hasao.
• Flooding was also reported in urban areas of Kamrup Metropolitan, Bajali, Barpeta, Darrang, Goalpara, Morigaon, Kokrajhar, Nalbari and Udalguri districts, the ASDMA bulletin said.
• Guwahati has been severely affected by continued waterlogging in most parts of the city, with areas such as Anil Nagar, Nabin Nagar, Zoo Road, Six Mile, Noonmati, Bhootnath, Maligaon, Bamunimaidam, Rajgarh Link Road, Hatigaon, Rukimingaon, Fatasil and Gotanagar remaining severely affected.
• At least 234 roads and 16 bridges have been damaged in the rain, officials said. The administration in Sonitpur has closed down NH-15, connecting Lakhimpur, Dhemaji along with Itanagar and Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, for heavy vehicles, and the situation is being monitored, the officials said. Several flights from Guwahati were also delayed as heavy rainfall continue to pound the city on Saturday.
• The second wave of floods this year has impacted 2,930 villages in Assam, while 1,06,677 people have taken shelter in 363 relief camps. Torrential rain in the frontier state has inundated numerous villages of the two districts of Dhemaji and Lakhimpur, a government official said.
• A portion of NH-6, which passes through Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura, has caved in due to landslides, bringing traffic movement to a halt. On Friday, the Northeast Frontier Railways has cancelled short-terminated and diverted several trains due to water-logging of railway tracks.
• The Assam government has also arranged for special flights between Guwahati and Silchar for people stranded due to the floods and landslides. The special flights, arranged by the Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC) in association with Fly Big, will start operating from June 18 at a fixed rate of Rs 4,000 per person.