Assam floods: 75 dead as 3.32 lakh people continue to reel under deluge

The death toll in the Assam floods has risen to 75 after seven more people died in the last 24 hours, officials said on Wednesday. While the flood situation has improved, around 3.32 lakh people remain affected across seven districts.

The state government has increased the ex gratia amount for the families of those who died to Rs 9 lakh each and has also relaxed the norms for claiming the compensation.

According to officials, the districts of Sivasagar, Charaideo, Golaghat, Jorhat, Nagaon, Sonitpur and Kamrup Metropolitan continue to be affected by the floods. The deluge has impacted 21 revenue circles and 622 villages.

Charaideo remains the worst-hit district, with 1.42 lakh people affected, followed by Sivasagar with 97,074 people and Jorhat with 57,371.

Officials said the seven deaths were reported on Tuesday from the Nazria revenue circle in Sivasagar district, taking this year’s flood death toll to 75.

On Monday, six districts were affected by the floods, with 4.45 lakh people impacted.

A total of 81 relief camps are operating in the affected districts, providing shelter to 32,477 displaced people. Another 34 relief distribution centres are also functioning.

Relief and rescue operations are continuing with the Army, Air Force, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Fire and Emergency Services, and civil volunteers taking part in the efforts.

Officials said 45,341.98 hectares of crop area have been submerged. Damage to houses, cow sheds, schools and anganwadi centres has also been reported from different flood-affected districts.

To ensure uninterrupted mobile connectivity, the intra circle roaming (ICR) facility has been extended in flood-hit areas of Sivasagar until 11:59 PM on July 30 or until further orders.

Officials said the ICR facility will also be “available to all in-roamers in the district, enabling subscribers of different telecom service providers to stay connected even if their own network is not connected”.

Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the government is giving special attention to children living in relief camps.

“Creating a congenial atmosphere for children in relief camps remains our focus. Dedicated spaces for learning & playing are helping ensure that the impact of floods does not interrupt their childhood and they are not adversely affected due to the ongoing situation,” the chief minister said in a post on social media on Wednesday while sharing photographs of children participating in learning activities at relief camps.

During a Facebook Live on Tuesday evening, Sarma announced that the government had relaxed the norms for providing ex gratia to the next of kin of people who died or went missing in this year’s floods.

He said the mandatory requirement of submitting a post-mortem report to receive the one-time government grant has been waived. A certificate issued by the circle officer will now be sufficient.

“Over and above the Rs 4 lakh ex gratia per victim that is paid at present, we have decided to give additional Rs 5 lakh to the families of the deceased from the CM’s Relief Fund,” he said.

Sarma also said that families of people missing in the floods will receive an ex gratia of Rs 9 lakh if the bodies are not found within a month. The circle officer will be authorised to issue the required certificate.

The chief minister said families severely affected in the four worst-hit districts of Sivasagar, Charaideo, Jorhat and Golaghat will receive an interim assistance of Rs 15,000 to meet household needs.

He also announced that students in Sivasagar and Charaideo districts will receive assistance for free uniforms and textbooks. Higher secondary, undergraduate and postgraduate students will also receive a monetary grant to purchase books.