Floods have once again ravaged the state of Assam, while 3.63 lakh people in 21 of the 34 districts have been affected by severe rainfall.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, 31 August, spoke to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and took stock of the flood situation in many parts of the state, news agency IANS reported.
He said in a tweet, "Assured of all possible support from the Centre to help mitigate the situation."
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to send its rescue teams to the flood affected areas in the state.
NDRF Director General SN Pradhan said that nine teams have been deployed in the severe affected districts of Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Kamrup, Cachar, Silchar, Jorhat, Sivasagar, and Dhemaji, while eight more teams have been kept on standby, IANS reported.
Two children have died due to the floods. The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) was quoted as saying that one child each was washed away in floodwaters in Morigaon and Barpeta districts.
As per an official estimate, over 1.30 lakh people were affected in the Lakhimpur district, followed by 65,000 in Majuli, 41,400 in Darrang, 24,300 in Biswanath, 21,300 in Dhemaji, and 17,800 in Sivasagar district, IANS reported.
Moreover, crops in over 30,333 hectares have been destroyed and around 950 villages have been affected so far.
Villagers move their rice bags to safer places on a boat from a flooded village in Morigaon district, on Tuesday, 31 August.
(Photo: PTI)
Forty-four relief camps have been set up by the state administration, accommodating over 7,000 people from the flood-affected areas.
According to the ASDMA, Lakhimpur was the worst-hit district with 1,05,257 people in the area being affected by flooding followed by Majuli where 57,256 have been hit by the floods.
Many people have been forced to leave their homes and take shelter in safer places after flood waters entered their homes.
(With inputs from IANS)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)