At least six persons, including two children, drowned on Thursday, taking the death toll in two waves of floods in Assam since May to 52.
Officials of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said the water levels of the Brahmaputra and other rivers dipped marginally on Thursday, but the flood situation continued to be grim with 21.13 lakh forced to abandon their homes.
More than 39,300 people among the flood-hit have taken shelter across 247 relief camps.
“Western Assam’s Dhubri and northern Assam’s Darrang are the worst affected districts where 6.49 lakh and 1.9 lakh people have been displaced,” an ASDMA spokesperson said.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the breaching of at least eight strategic embankments worsened the flood situation, which was caused largely by heavy rainfall in Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan.
31 animals killed
The impact has been felt in the 1,307.49 sq. km Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve where the floodwaters killed 31 animals — 30 hog deer and one otter pup. Forest guards, however, rescued 82 animals, a two-month-old rhino among them.
“The situation, however, improved in the last 24 hours with 95 of the 233 anti-poaching camps now under water up to 5 feet. The number of camps inundated on Wednesday was 179,” a park official said.
Heavy rainfall also caused havoc in other northeastern States. Officials in Arunachal Pradesh said at least seven districts in the central and eastern parts of the State had been cut off due to landslides caused by flash floods. The affected districts include Lohit, Changlang, Anjaw, and East Siang.
During the last 48 hours, eight persons, including two children, were killed in rain-induced landslides and floods in Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.
