By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Guwahati: At least 24 people have been killed during the last 48 hours due to flood in Assam’s Goalpara and Kamrup district following continuous rain occurred in Assam and Meghalaya.
Though the rain has ceased the flood condition is still far from being normal. The affected people who have been shifted to various relief camps alleged that there are no facility of food and medicine.
Security personnel in their rescue work in Goalpara.
The flash flood in Guwahati city, the state headquarter, has claimed four lives so far during the last two days due to landslide and electrocution.
Local news channel said that six bodies were recovered from different parts of Kamrup district. However, it is yet to be confirmed by the district administration. According to the state government 13 people have died while one is missing. The locals, however, feared that the number of missing persons could be much more.
People make their way in flood in Guwahati.
“The water level has gone down on Wednesday. But the major concern at this moment is to provide relief material and medicine facilities at the camps. So far we have not seen any such arrangement by the district administration,” said Robiul Islam, a local youth in Boko of Kamrup district.
Altogether 12 districts of the state have been affected by flood touching around 4 lakh people. The affected districts are Dhemaji, Barpeta, Kamrup, Udalguri, Lakhimpur, Kokrajhar, Nalbari, Morigaon, Sonitpur, Goalpara, Darrang, Bongaigaon and Kamrup (Metro).
The flood affected the people struggles their way in Boko and Chaygaon area in Assam’s Kamrup district. [Photo-DASARATH DEKA.]
With around 9 lakh hectares of land under water, the farmers will have a tough time in the coming days.
The state government also called in the Army to help evacuate hundreds of people trapped in pockets of the worst-affected Golapara district following the incessant rains for the last 24 hours. The Army also pressed into service IAF helicopters to survey the isolated and inundated areas. People from these areas have been shifted to 78 relief camps.
The Kamrup (metro) district administration has asked all city schools and colleges to remain shut on Wednesday as well. The Goalpara district authorities have also made a similar announcement in the district.
The met office has issued another warning. “Heavy to very heavy rainfall would occur at isolated places in Assam, Meghalaya on September 24 (Wednesday) and 25 (Thursday). Heavy rain will lash parts of Arunachal Pradesh and few places in Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura on September 24. Isolated places in Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura will get incessant rain on September 25,” read the warning.
Many in the state, however, have felt that the central government neglected the flood in Assam and the state government has failed to address the need.
All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), the apex students’ body of the state has asked a team of union ministers to visit the state and do the needful immediately.
Others also said that if Kashmir flood can be declared as national disaster why the Narendra Modi government in New Delhi has neglected the plight in Assam.
“Thousands of people are being trapped in the flood water. People are waiting for being rescued on the roof of the houses, on the trees. None can say certainly what is happening there. The condition of the flood victims is beyond description. How many persons have been washed away is still uncertain. Our plight is equal to Kashmir. We urge the central government to declare it as national disaster,” said Hafiz Ahmed, president of Char Chapori Sahitya Parishad (CCSP), a socio-cultural organization of the state.
CCSP has decided to collect relief materials. CCSP has also urged the people to contact following numbers for relief 9435541874, 9859925469, 9401008915(NAGAON), 9435291729(BARPETA), 9435482676(KALGACHIA), 8822824167, 9954628121(LAKHIMPUR), 9435810771(BARPETA) 9401614661(HOJAI), 9435725725531 (CHAPAR)