The flood situation in Assam continues worsen due to incessant rains. River Brahmaputra, which flows through Guwahati, breached the danger mark on Monday.
"Water is flowing 1.5 cm above danger level and it is increasing 2-3 cm per hour. The rising water level can be a danger for the city,” Sadikul Haq, Central Water Commission, told ANI.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday called Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and took stock of the ongoing flood situation in the state, which have killed nine people and have affected over 26 lakh others. Twenty-eight districts of Assam have been affected due to the flooding.
A statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office here said that the Prime Minister had assured of all help to the Assam government to deal with the situation.
An official of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority on Monday said that 3,181 villages in the 28 districts have been affected. A total of 26,45,533 people have been affected due to the floods as of Monday afternoon. Over 10 lakh animals have also been affected.
The official said that close to 90,000 hectares of agricultural lands have been affected due to the floods, some with standing crops on them.
The government has pressed the National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) to help the marooned people in different districts even as Army has been called in to assist the civil administration in relief and rescue operations in different parts of the state.
According to reports, Sub-Divisional Officer, Kaliabor ( town in Nagaon district of Assam) said that due to the flooding of NH 37 at several places near the Kaziranga National Park, movement of all light motor vehicles have been restricted until further notice.
Ferry services to Umananda Temple, too, have been stopped due to increasing water level in river Brahmaputra.
According to All India Radio News, Union Jal Shakti Minister G S Shekhawat will visit Assam on Tuesday, visit some of the flood-hit areas and also hold a review meeting in Guwahati. He will do aerial survey in Upper Assam.
Protecting the wildlife
With flood waters entering most of the state's national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, Assam Environment and Forest Minister Parimal Shuklabaidya on Saturday appealed to all the staff of the department to cancel the leaves and resume duty at the earliest.
The state Health Department had recently cancelled the leaves of all the doctors, paramedics and other health department workers due to the outbreak of Japanese Encephalitis, which had claimed 64 lives in the state since January this year.
Shuklabaidya also requested people residing in the vicinity of all national parks and wildlife sanctuaries to treat any flood-affected, distressed animal with utmost care and love and inform the Forest Department staff immediately for subsequent support.
The Minister said that the department had already taken care to ensure that no high speeding vehicles hit animals of the park, particularly from Kaziranga national park, as they often stray outside towards NH 37 due to flood and appealed everyone to cooperate so that the lives of distressed wildlife could be saved.
Pls check your speed while driving through forest areas instead, slow down, look around, enjoy the beauty, feel blessed #AssamFloods https://t.co/CFV0dUsi9w
— Randeep Hooda (@RandeepHooda) July 15, 2019
Contribute
Here are the details to contribute to the Assam Chief Minister's Relief Fund
Contribute to CM Relief Fund
— MyGov Assam (@mygovassam) July 14, 2019
A/c Name: Chief Minister's Relief Fund Assam
A/c no: 35969660230 (SBI), Secretariat Branch
IFSC: SBIN0010755
PAN: AAATC4667K
Contribute through cheque or demand draft
Visit https://t.co/dWhjX88UWA
or donate through Paytm. #AssamFloods pic.twitter.com/sR6pmrX0OF
(With inputs from IANS)