Thaindian News

Guwahati, July 19 (IANS) The Assam government Tuesday sounded an alert as 75,000 people were displaced following heavy overnight rains that triggered flash floods, breaching roads and embankments at several places.

“So far more than 75,000 people have been displaced and they are taking shelters in various makeshift camps,” a government spokesperson said.

Up to 800 villages in four districts - Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Sonitpur and Jorhat - have been hit by the floods so far, he said.

“We have alerted all agencies. Relief materials and medical teams have also been rushed to the affected areas,” the official said.

A Central Water Commission bulletin said the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries were flowing above the danger mark in at least eight places.

An estimated 50,000 people are now displaced in Lakhimpur and Dhemaji, about 400 km east of Assam’s capital here.

“Most of the flood-hit people are now taking shelter in raised platforms, on railway tracks, and in government schools and offices, so far untouched by the floods,” he said.

The river island of Majuli in Jorhat district had a breach in a mud embankment late Monday, leaving thousands of people stranded.

Gushing waters have breached at least four vital mud embankments in the state, besides snapping road links. National Highway 52 in eastern Assam has been severely affected.

A vast stretch of the Kaziranga National Park has come under water, forcing forest guards to move out of the sanctuary and making animals run for their safety.

“The situation is worrisome and we are concerned about the safety of the animals and our forest guards,” a park official said.