Assam Flood Death Toll Rises to 36: 10 Points

Video Producer: Kriti Dhingra, Fabeha Syed

Video Editor: Varun Sharma, Sandeep Suman

• The situation in flood-ravaged Assam remained critical on Thursday, 18 July, with all 28 of the 33 districts of the state still affected the deluge, news agency PTI reported.
• The death toll due to floods in Assam has risen to 36 .
• Over 57 lakh people in 4,620 villages are reeling under the impact of the floods, according to Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).
• The Brahmaputra river and its tributaries are flowing above the danger level in most of the affected districts, including in Guwahati, the ASDMA has said.
• Embankments, roads, bridges and many other infrastructure have been damaged at various places in Sonitpur, Golaghat, Jorhat, Baksa, Dibrugarh, Nalbari, Hojai, Morigaon, Lakhimpur, Darrang, Nagaon, Kamrup, Barpeta, Dhubri, Majuli, Karimganj, Sivasagar, Hailakandi and South Salmara districts.

Catch all the latest updates on Assam and Bihar floods here.

• Flood waters have submerged major portions of Kaziranga, Pobitora and Manas rhino habitats, forcing the animals to take shelter in the artificial highlands for safety. About 90 percent of Kaziranaga National Park is presently inundated, as per a release by the Assam Ministry of Forest and Environment.

• The Centre has released Rs 251.55 crore grants-in-aid to the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and the state has released Rs 75.95 crore to the districts.
• Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi had on Monday, 15 July, spoken to Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal over the phone and assured of all help to the state, a statement from the Chief Minister's Office said.
• 15 teams of the NDRF with 38 deep divers, 48 IRB boats and other life-saving aids are deployed for rescue operations, PTI reported, quoting RS Gill, Officiating Commandant at the 1st Battalion of NDRF.
• A total of 95 flood relief columns along with additional 31 columns as reserve have been "kept on stand by" for relief work, the Army said in a statement on Tuesday.

(With inputs from ANI, PTI and IANS)