Assam flood situation worsens

The flood situation in Assam deteriorated further on Monday as more than 1,000 villages were affected after an embankment of river Brahmaputra in worst affected Dhemaji district was breached in the early hours.

Dhemaji district administration sources said that the swollen Brahmaputra river breached more than 100 metres of the Matmara dyke at Bengtola at 7 am affecting 1,000 villages and rendering at least 50 families homeless.

More than 100 families were still stranded in the floods and the district administration was trying to rescue them.

The affected villages have alleged that the weak Matmara dyke as well those in Machkhowa and Sisi were being threatened but no maintenance and repair work was undertaken.

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had last year announced a Rs 100 crore package to repair the weak embankments in the district but the project was still not implemented.

With Monday's flood damage, nearly three lakh people of the district got affected, sources said.

The situation was worse in Dhokuana sub division of neighbouring Lakhimpur district with Lali River inundating 20 villages.

Flood waters have also affected people of Narayanpur subdivision of the district.

More than 15 villages have been affected in the first wave of flood in Assam. More than three lakh people have been affected while eight persons have lost their lives.

In Jorhat district, around 40 villages have been inundated in Majuli, Asia's largest river island, in the midst of the Brahmaputra.

Senior district officials said ferry services between Majuli and Nimatighat in Jorhat town, lifeline to the river island, have been suspended as the water level was rising.

Junaimukh locality in Majuli has witnessed severe erosion in past day or two. People in the affected villages have been shifted to safer locations.

In Jorhat, Bhugdoi locality had to bear the brunt of the flood and torrential downpour of the past two-three days.

A total of 22 villages in Bhugdoi are flooded as the Brahmaputra rises above danger level and fear of erosion has increased.

The district administration has started offering dal, rice, salt and other essentials to affected people.

In Dibrugarh district, areas such as Bogibeel and Rohmoriya have been among the major affected due to rising water levels.

At Bogibeel, where the fourth bridge across Brahmaputra is being constructed, the water level has crossed the dyke. Around 100 families in the area have been affected.

Dibrugarh Deputy Commissioner Aruna Rajoria said people in the low-lying areas near the Brahmaputra have been requested to evacuate their homes and shift to safer places and rescue cattle and livestock.