Monsoon floods wreak havoc, 3.5 lakh hit in Assam floods, 28 dead in UP

Guwahati: Over 3.5 lakh people in 14 districts of Assam have been hit by floods, that forced the administration on Sunday to call the Army to rescue marooned villagers in Nagaon district. Army spokesman Lt. Col. Suneet Newton said that troops from Gajraj Corps were called in to rescue people at Kalapani village in Kaiabhor circle who were marooned by flood waters after unprecedented rainfall in the area. The Army rescued 145 civilians (30 men, 55 women, 60 children) and provided first-aid and relief, he added.

The floods turned grim after the Brahamaputra and its tributaries — Desang, Dhansiri, Jiabharali, Beki and Puthimari — submerged a vast stretch, covering 791 villages. The floods inundated about 70 per cent of Kaziranga National Park, forcing animals to migrate to high land, crossing over National Highway 37 on the park’s southern border. Some other sanctuaries were heavily flooded too.

In Bihar nine districts have been hit by flood which has claimed two lives so far and affected around four lakh people. CM Jitan Ram Manjhi conducted an aerial survey of the inundated areas and ordered all out efforts to provide relief. Around 38,000 people have been evacuated so far and 75 relief camps have been set up in the affected districts.

Twenty-eight persons have died so far in Uttar Pradesh in floods which have hit the state with several rivers flowing above the danger mark and posing a threat to more than 1,000 villages in the affected districts.

In Jammu, Army rescued 33 villagers, trapped in flash floods at Samba district. Due to incessant rains on Saturday, the level of water in Basantar river increased to 16-18 feet resulting in sudden overflow of water along a 290 metre patch of the re-constructed bund by the irrigation department.