GUWAHATI
The flood situation improved marginally in Assam on Wednesday, but left 12 people dead, officials said.
According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), the number of flood-affected districts came down from 31 to 29 during the last 24 hours. Almost 4 lakh people have returned home.
“Minus the status of three districts from where we are yet to receive reports, 12 human lives have been lost since Tuesday evening. There are now 51.25 lakh affected people across 4,374 villages, and 97,368.50 hectares of cropland are under water,” an ASDMA spokesperson said.
“A worrying factor is the number of people missing in the floods since April. Of the 35 people missing, seven are from Cachar district, followed by six from Hojai,” she added.
A total of 101 people have perished in floods and rain-induced landslides in Assam so far. At least 32 others have died in Meghalaya and six in Arunachal Pradesh.
The two waves of flood in Assam have also killed more than 67,000 domestic animals such as cattle, pigs and fowls.
Eleven animals of Kaziranga National Park have died too. Ten of the wild animals, including a leopard, were run over by vehicles while trying to escape from the partially-flooded park. Officials said 12% of the park is now flooded.
