GUWAHATI: Assam has witnessed devastating floods over the past one week which has displaced lakhs of people across the state and wreaked havoc affecting 30 districts.
Kamrup (Metro) district too, was not spared by the deluge with a total of 66,854 people being affected in different areas of the district till Friday, July 19.
Kaustav Talukdar, project officer at District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) informed G Plus that one death was also reported in Sonapur in Kamrup (Metro).
Further, a total of 34 villages remained affected by the floods in Sonapur, Dispur and Chandrapur revenue circles.
He further added that all the concerned departments are on their toes and the relief is being distributed to the flood-affected people.
“We are continuously distributing relief material to all those who have been affected by floods,” said Talukdar.
Authorities informed that this year particularly, floods were much more severe and created more havoc as compared to the last few years.
Officials said that in Guwahati, the most impacted areas included Pandu, Uzan Bazar and Fancy Bazar, parts of which were inundated.
“We had to evacuate people from Pandu and Uzan Bazar after water filled into their houses. Close to 100 families were affected in Uzan Bazar due to water logging,” informed deputy commissioner Kamrup (Metro) Biswajit Pegu.
Pegu told G Plus that the water level has started receding and the situation was no longer critical in the district.
He added that since the onset of floods and rainfall, the district administration has been taking all steps necessary to ensure that all people are safe during the calamity.
“We have provided relief to those areas which have been affected. We have also provided fodder for the cattle population,” mentioned Pegu.
Apart from this, medical facilities have been given to the people by setting up camps in various areas.
Further, in order to provide shelter and relief for those who have lost their homes and have been displaced by floods, the district administration has also set up a total of five relief camps in the Sonapur circle.
Officials added that people start returning to their homes once the water level recedes.
Apart from this, officials informed that authorities have also started undertaking post-flood measures in order to ensure that people are not affected by the diseases which they tend to contaminate immediately after such a calamity, especially water-borne diseases.
“In order to tackle those we have formed teams which would be visiting all the areas in the district and sensitising people and wherever possible we will try to give them some treatment,” Pegu told G Plus.
At the state level, 53.52 lakh people have been affected by the calamity while 48 deaths have been reported due to flooding and landslide.
On the other hand, recently, chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal asked the NITI Aayog to include river erosion in the admissible list of calamities for funding under the NDRF or SDRF so that immediate measures can be taken to prevent it.
Apart from human lives, animals too were severely hit by the floods this year. According to officials, 90% of the 430 sq km area of Kaziranga National Park (KNP) was under water till July 17, but the water level in Kaziranga receded by 65 cm by Wednesday.
The death toll of animals in KNP increased from 30 to 51 as more carcasses, including two one-horned rhinos, were found on Wednesday, July 17.
The two rhinos drowned due to the floods. The total number of rhinos killed by the floods has now gone up to five.
In addition to this, two carcasses of sambars and two of wild boars were also found on Wednesday.
Further, eight hog deer died after drowning, three were hit by vehicles and four perished during treatment at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) while many died of exhaustion as well.
The Assam floods also saw support from a plethora of celebrities including the likes of actors and sportspersons. Most notably, Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar on Wednesday stated that he will donate Rs 2 crores for the Assam floods. Ace sprinter from Assam Hima Das too, contributed her salary towards flood relief.
Kumar also appealed to people to contribute for the devastation caused by floods. He said he is contributing Rs 1 crore each to the CM Relief Fund and for Kaziranga Park rescue.
The actor tweeted: “Absolutely heartbreaking to know about the devastation by floods in Assam. All affected, humans or animals, deserve support in this hour of crisis. I’d like to donate 1cr each to the CM Relief Fund & for Kaziranga Park rescue. Appealing to all to contribute @CMOfficeAssam @kaziranga.”