The flood condition in Assam remained grim on June 19 with overnight heavy rainfall across several parts of the State, inundating villages, towns and farmlands.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a ‘Red Alert’ and predicted ‘very heavy’ to ‘extremely heavy’ rainfall across several districts of Assam till June 22.
IMD‘s Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Guwahati has issued a ‘Red Alert’ with prediction of “Heavy (7-11 cm in 24 hours) to Very Heavy (11-20 cm in 24 hours) with extremely heavy rainfall (over 20 cm in 24 hours)” over Lower Assam districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa, Barpeta and Bongaigaon.
During the same period, ‘heavy to very heavy’ rainfall is very likely over Dhubri, Kamrup, Kamrup Metropolitan, Nalbari, Dima Hasao, Cachar, Goalpara and Karimganj districts, it added.
The RMC has issued an ‘Orange Alert’ for June 20, followed by a ‘Yellow Alert’ for the subsequent two days.
‘Red Alert’ warrants immediate action, while ‘Orange Alert’ implies the need to be prepared for action and ‘Yellow Alert’ stands for “watch and be updated”.
Also read: Flood hits 11 Assam districts; erosion more worrying
According to the daily flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), more than 33,400 people are affected by floods in Cachar, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Hojai, Lakhimpur, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sonitpur, Tinsukia and Udalguri districts.
Lakhimpur is the worst-hit, with over 25,200 people affected, followed by Dibrugarh (more than 3,800 people affected) and Tinsukia (almost 2,700 persons affected), it added.
The administration has been operating one relief camp, which is currently sheltering nine people, besides running 16 relief distribution centres in three districts.
At present, 142 villages are under water and 1,510.98 hectares of crop areas have been damaged across Assam, the ASDMA said.
Massive erosions have been witnessed in Biswanath, Bongaigaon, Dibrugarh, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Morigaon, Nagaon, Sivasagar, Sonitpur, South Salmara and Udalguri districts, it added.
Also read: Centre reviews preparedness for flood management ahead of monsoon season in Assam
Places in Dima Hasao and Karimganj have reported incidents of landslides due to heavy rainfall.
Embankments, roads, bridges and other infrastructure have been damaged by flood waters in Sonitpur, Lakhimpur, Cachar, Dhemaji, Goalpara, Nagaon, Udalguri, Chirang, Dibrugarh, Kamrup, Karbi Anglong, Karimganj, Bongaigaon, Majuli, Morigaon, Sivasagar and South Salmara districts.
The Brahmaputra at Neamatighat, while its tributaries Puthimari at NH Road Crossing and Kopili at Kampur are flowing above the danger marks, the report said.
