At least eight more people died in incidents of floods and landslide on Saturday, 18 June, as Assam continued to reel under floods, taking the statewide death toll to 63.
A release from the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) on Saturday said that of the eight deaths reported in the past 24 hours, two people were buried alive in a landslide, and six drowned in the flood waters.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday took stock of the situation and assured “all possible support” to the state from the Centre.
“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,” tweeted Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Almost 90 percent area of the state is affected by floods after pre-monsoon showers wreaked havoc last month. There are at least 10 persons reportedly missing.
Sarma on Saturday visited relief camps sheltering the displaced and reviewed the situation with state BJP chief and local MLA Bhabesh Kalita.
Over 1.08 Lakh People in 373 Relief Camps
The state disaster management authority’s report on Saturday stated that 30,99,762 people belonging to 4,296 villages in 32 districts of the state have been affected by floods in the last 24 hours. A total of 1,56,365 inmates have taken shelter in 514 relief camps.
Landslides were reported from Cachar, Dima-Hasao, Goalpara, Hailakandi, South Salmara and Kamrup (Metro) districts.
In Hojai district, a boat carrying 24 persons from inundated Islampur village late on Friday night capsized in the Raikota area of the district. Three children are missing while 21others have been rescued. Hojai deputy commissioner has said that “the search operations are underway to trace the missing children.”
Sarma told reporters, “The district administration is ready to face any exigency.“ The Army and teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel evacuated affected people from vulnerable areas to relief camps. The Army has deployed 11 columns to assist in rescue and relief operations in Hojai, Baksa, Nalbari, Barpeta, Darrang, Tamulpur, and Kamrup districts and has so far evacuated 3,000 people to safety, reported PTI.
Over 1.08 lakh people are taking shelter in 373 relief camps across the state.
Rivers including Brahmaputra, Jia-Bharali, Puthimari, Manas, Beki, Barak, and Kushiara are flowing above the danger level, read the bulletin from the Central Water Commission (CWC) on Saturday.
In Darrang district, Sarma examined the breached embankments at Patharughat and Bor Athiabari.
A total crop area of 66455.12 hectares has been inundated and 441 animals have been washed away said the report. Huge infrastructural damage has also been reported as at least 216 roads and five bridges have been damaged.
Survey Of Affected Areas Using Drones
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati, will assist the government of Assam in inspecting flood-affected areas with drones built by its startup to boost relief and rescue efforts.
According to officials, the state government has requested the institute's assistance in surveying flood-affected areas with drones in order to assess the situation in villages where road connectivity has been hampered due to high water levels.
"The drones will be used to conduct aerial survey of the areas which have been severely affected and some villages where road connectivity is disrupted due to heavy water flow. The exercise will be helpful in identifying areas where people could be stranded, immediate evacuation is needed and relief material needs to be provided," Parmeshwar Iyer, the Dean of IIT Guwahati told PTI.
Drones produced by IIT Guwahati's Drones Tech Lab, have previously been utilised for data collection in a variety of tasks including land surveying, river mapping, agriculture, healthcare, and disaster management.
(With inputs from PTI)
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