Five Assam districts in grip of floods

The water level of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries maintained a rising trend on Sunday with five districts of Assam reeling under the third wave of floods.

Heavy and incessant rainfall in the catchment areas during the last few days has led the water level of the rivers to rise in Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Golaghat, Sonitpur and Kamrup, with vast areas of human habitation and cropland inundated, official sources said.

The Brahmaputra was flowing above the danger level at Nematighat, the Jia Bhoroli in Sonitpur, Gai Nadi in Dhemaji and Singora in Lakhimpur districts. An estimated one lakh people have been affected in 82 villages and the administration in these districts been directed to provide necessary relief and rehabilitation to the victims.

There has been, however, no loss of human life so far, the sources said. In Golaghat, two breaches have been reported in Kakodanga river and a post of a bridge has been damaged in Gelabil-Selseli river.

In the worst-ever flood to hit the state during the last decade, 126 people lost their lives this year during the first and second wave of the deluge while 631 animals perished in Kaziranga National Park alone.