ELECTIONS '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES

Assam sinks, slowly, as the Brahmaputra swells

Following heavy rains in the catchment areas, the rising Brahmaputra river and some of its tributaries submerged fresh areas of Assam on Friday, official reports said.

The rivers in the worst-hit Dhemaji district were rising again, affecting about 300 villages. Traffic was disrupted on National Highway 52 as it was over-topped and both road and rail communications remained disrupted, the report added.

The Brahmaputra river was rising all along its course and was flowing above the danger level at Neamatighat in Jorhat district and in the Majuli river island. It submerged large areas and displaced over 20,000 people.

Rescue and relief operations were in progress.

In Itanagar, Chief Minister Gegong Apang made an aerial survey of the affected areas in east Siang, West Siang and the upper Siang districts recently to take stock of the damage. Apang visited the hospital and veterinary complexes in Likabali, which had been completely submerged. He also visited the Biyeng irrigation project in Simong village and the Simar and Simit irrigation projects in Gete village.

Apang has asked the district administrative officers to submit a detailed report on the relief measures undertaken in the districts, the statement added.

The chief minister has also sanctioned Rs 10,000 to each of the bereaved families that lost their members in the flash landslide on the Halong-Hawai road in Lohit district.

The Sagalee sub-division in Papum Pare district was the worst affected, the release said, adding that three labourers have been seriously injured by landslides recently.

The upper Subansiri district remained cut off for the past month due to the road blockade in west Siang and the collapse of the Kamala bridge over the lower Subansiri. This has resulted in an acute shortage of essentials. Only two trucks of rations could reach Daporijo during the past three months through transhipment.

In east Kameng district, the turbulent Kameng river washed away four residential buildings and partially damaged ten others in Sepps.

The Chizaong, Kuchi Nallah and Seppa-Chiyangtajo roads and district hospital roads had been badly damaged with an estimated loss of about Rs 2 million. The total damage in east Siang district was estimated at Rs 163.4 million.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report