By Abdul Gani, TwoCircles.net
Guwahati: The flood situation in Assam has gotten worse with more than 8.75 lakh people have been affected so far on Tuesday. At least 24 people have lost their lives in the span of two weeks across the state in flood and landslide.
Students and civil society have sat for an indefinite hunger strike in Assam’s Baksa district on the bank of river Beki which falls in Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD).
“We have been cheated by the central government and the state government time and again. We have no option left but to sit in hunger strike. The people in these area have been suffering from flood and erosion problem for a long time but the rehabilitation work is not at all visible here,” said Shahjahan Ali Ahmed, a young district level leader of All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU) who along with other villagers started the hunger strike on the bank of river Beki.
They said that the people of that area have been suffering since 2004 when a major flood affected the entire area. “After Kurishu river’s dam gate in neighbouring Bhutan was opened, the entire area was flooded and several embankments were destroyed. The agriculture lands were under water for more than four months. These people have incurred huge losses and after that they just could not recover and the assistance from the side of the government is not encouraging,” Ali Ahmed added.
Even now, the current spell of flood has also had an impact in their locality along with the entire state.
Their demands include to implement a scientific and practical method to stop the erosion of the river Beki which is one of the major tributaries of the river Brahmaputra.
“Besides, we are seeking proper rehabilitation for the affected people in the area. We want the state ministers to come here and tell us about the plans they have for us,” he added.
The agitating villagers also informed TwoCircles.net that in the last one decade and so, the river Beki has washed away an area of around 5 square kilometer affecting at least thousand families directly or indirectly.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday four people have been killed by the wave of flood and landslide. One woman Sumitra Khakhlari (23) and her daughter Rashmi Khakhlari who was just one year and eight months old of Kalipahar Jaiguru village under Gauripur police station in Kamrup district lost their lives when their home was struck by landslide.
Besides two other adults were drowned by the flood water in Tinsukia and Dibrugarh district. With this the number of death has reached to 24 in the last two weeks.
The overall flood situation continues to be grim with as many as 18 districts are still under water. According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), the river Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger level in several places of the state including at Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Sonitpur and Dhubri.
Besides, its major tributaries Buridehing, Dhansiri, Jia Bharali, Puthimari, Sankosh and Beki is also flowing above the danger level while in Barak valley, river Kushiyara is flowing above the danger level as on Tuesday.
So far more than 8.75 lakh people have been affected by the flood, according to the information released by the state government. Among all the districts Dhemaji is the worst affected with more than 3.35 lakh people reeling under water.
The other districts to have suffered badly are Sonitpur, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Lakhimpur, Barpeta, Goalpara, Goalghat, Jorhat, Darrang and Baksa among others. On Tuesday two more people have been washed away by flood waters in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts. On Monday, as many as five people were feared to have drowned. With this at least 24 lives have been lost in the last two weeks of flood and landslide in across the state.
The ASDMA said that the relief and rescue works have been going on in full swing. With the connectivity in several areas have been badly damaged, the rescue workers have to face a tough time.
At least 70 percent of Kaziranga National Park is reeling under water, according to the officials at the park.
Meanwhile, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi reviewed the flood situation following the rise in the water level of the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers.
Photos by Abdul Kalam Azad