Assam Athlete Hima Das Makes an Appeal for Her Flood-Hit State

The reigning World Youth Athletic champion Hima Das hails from Dhing in Assam

(Photo: The Quint)

After making an emotional appeal to corporates as well as individuals to help her home state Assam that has been ravaged by flood, Indian track and field star Hima Das has decided to donate half of her monthly salary for relief work.

Hima, who works for the Indian Oil Corporation in Guwahati as an HR officer, will be making that contribution to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.

Earlier in the day Hima tweeted: “Flood situation in our state Assam is very critical, 30 out of 33 districts are currently affected. So I would like to request big corporates and individuals to kindly come forward and help our state in this difficult situation.”

Hima, who hails from Dhing in Assam, is the first sportsperson to make such an appeal.

The situation in Assam has worsened as death toll due to floods increased to 15. At least 30 of the 33 districts in the state are submerged under flood waters.

Over 42 lakh people in 4,157 villages are reeling under the impact of the floods, according to a report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) that came out on Monday.

A family marooned on the top of a hut in the flood-hit locality of Panikhaiti in Kamrup district of Assam, on Monday, 15 July 2019. 

According to ASDMA report, embankments, roads, bridges and many other infrastructure have been damaged at various places in Sonitpur, Golaghat, Jorhat, Baksa, Dibrugarh, Nalbari, Hojai, Morigaon, Lakhimpur, Darrang, Nagaon, Kamrup, Barpeta, Dhubri, Majuli, Karimganj, Sivasagar, Hailakandi and South Salmara districts.

Recently, Hima won three gold medals in less than two weeks.

Hima, the reigning World Youth Athletic champion, had a great two weeks on personal front. She won her third medal in less than two weeks, when she clinched gold in the 200m event at the Kladno Athletics Meet in Czech Republic on Saturday.

Earlier, the 19-year-old runner clocked 23.65 seconds to win gold at the Poznan Athletics Grand Prix in Poland on July 2. After that, she won her second 200m gold at the Kutno Athletics Meet, also in Poland, on July 7 with a time of 23.97 seconds.