Flood claims two lives in Numaligarh in Assam

rchopra@tribunemail.com

Bijay Sankar Bora

Tribune News Service

Guwahati, August 2

Flood claimed two lives in Numaligarh area in Golaghat district in the past 24 hours even as swirling waters of the Dhansiri river threaten to snap surface communication between Western and Eastern Assam along the arterial national highway.

The bridge on the Dhansiri at Numaligarh is surviving precariously under the impact of flood.

Thousands of people in Golaghat district have been driven out of their homes by flood that has been triggered by the release of water from the Doyang hydro-electricity dam by the North East Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) authorities.

Meanwhile, Assam Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal has asked the NEEPCO to stop releasing more dam water because of the mounting misery of the people.

Meanwhile, the Army has launched a flood relief and rescue operation in Sivasagar district of eastern Assam where the Disang and Dekhow rivers continue to flow above the danger mark inundating low-lying areas along the banks affecting over 18,000 villagers from 52 villages and damaging standing crop on over 1,800 hectares of land. The army have been working overtime to rescue marooned people there.