By IANS
Guwahati : Ten people were drowned overnight in separate incidents in Assam, taking the death toll in floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains since July to 87, officials said Sunday.
A government spokesman said the fresh deaths were reported Saturday from Cachar, Hailakandi, Morigaon and Goalpara districts.
“Most of the people who died were due to drowning while trying to escape the fury of the floods,” Bhumidhar Barman, Assam revenue, relief and rehabilitation minister, told IANS.
The floods have hit about 10,200 villages in Assam and left an estimated 11.2 million people displaced.
“The death toll in floods and landslides since July now stands at 87 with the situation still critical in many areas with millions of people lodged at makeshift shelters,” the minister said.
Large swathes of Assam continue to reel under a severe wave of flooding with the swirling waters of the main Brahmaputra river flowing above the danger mark in 13 different places and in spate.
“The Brahmaputra river and its main tributaries are still in a rising trend and flowing above the danger mark in many places,” a Central Water Commission bulletin said Sunday.
The weather office has forecast more rains with thundershowers over Assam over the next day. “More rains means the situation would worsen further,” the minister said.
The floods that began in July have so far hit 25 of Assam’s 27 districts – the worst hit being Cachar, Karimganj, Hailakandi, Dhubri, Morigaon, Barpeta, Lakhimpur and Nalbari.
“This is one of the most prolonged floods in recent years and by far the worst,” said Assam Water Resources Minister Bharat Narah.
The Brahmaputra has burst its seams and breached about 90 mud embankments across Assam since July. “There are about 1,500 makeshift camps now where thousands of people are sheltered, while many more are staying in raised embankments and other such platforms under tarpaulin tents,” Barman said.