In the first wave of floods, at least 444 villages have been inundated in 18 districts till Monday night in Assam.
As rain continued for the second week in the state, more that 30,729 people were affected, while 4,741 hectares of crop land were flooded putting farmers in distress.
Lakhimpur in Northern Assam was the worst hit with 22061 people affected followed by Dibrugarh with 3857 persons and Kokrajhar 1769 with person according to Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) daily flood report.
ASDMA also noted that the flooding in the Brahmaputra and its tributaries have caused erosion in at least 17 districts across the state with Dibrugarh and Nalbari suffering major damage. The other districts where erosions were recorded are Biswanath, Dhubri, Golaghat, Kamrup, Karimganj, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Morigaon, Nagaon, Sivasagar, Sonitpur, South Salmara, Tamulpur and Udalguri, the ASDMA said in its report.
Despite some respite in rainfall in eastern and central Assam, the Meteorological Department of India’s Guwahati Regional Met Centre issued “red warning” for Tuesday for Western Assam districts of South Salmara Mancachar, Kokrajhar, Goalpara, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Baksa and Chirang. The met department predicted heavy to very heavy rain to continue in isolated places in the state on Tuesday adding woes to the flood situation in the state.
The IMD’s Guwahati chapter has issued orange and yellow warning for most of the districts till 21 June 2023 indicating more rainfall till Wednesday.
While flood is considered the main devastating factor in Assam, erosion is equally a perennial problem that paralyzes the state. According Water Resource Department, at least 8000 hectares of land is eroded every year. The Brahmaputra, which flows throughout the state, have almost doubled its area under cover during the last century from 3,870 sq km in 1912-28 to 6,080 sq km in 2006. The change, with the river expanding up to 15 kilometers width, have created a humane crisis for citizens dwelling along the banks.
