Assam floods hit 9 lakh, rhino parks bear brunt

Bijay Sankar Bora

Tribune News Service

Guwahati, September 6

The flood situation continues to remain grim in Assam with rivers still showing rising trend, inundating new areas in many parts of the state. The situation is particularly worse in Marigaon, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts.

The current wave of flood has inundated two very important wildlife protection areas and rhino habitats in the state, Kaziranga National Park (KNP) and Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary. Besides, nine lakh people in 18 districts have been affected and there has been extensive damage to roads, bridges, embankments and houses. Standing paddy over an area of 1.43 lakh hectares has been destroyed.

More than 3.35 lakh people have been affected in Dhemaji district alone while the residents of Dibrugarh town in eastern Assam have faced unprecedented hardship with flood water from the Brahmaputra submerging almost all the localities in the town. The authorities have borrowed machines from Oil Indian Limited to attempt pumping out flood water from the town area, but in vain.

Union Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs, Sarbananda Sonowal, today visited the flood-affected areas of Lakhimpur district and talked to the people who had taken shelter in relief camps in the district.

Sonowal claimed that the Central government had already provided money to the Assam government for various relief operations. He said that all the MLAs in the state should stand by those affected by the floods at this time of distress.