BARPETA, July 19 - As more and more areas have been submerged by the flood, the number of affected people in the current wave of flood has gone up to 15 lakh in 711 villages in Barpeta district.
The water level in most of the rivers are still flowing above the danger level in spite of the harsh sunshine since the last three days. The Brahmaputra was flowing at 1.5 metres above the danger mark this morning and the threat to its embankment along the Bahari Baghbar Sector continues.
People in the affected areas of the district are leading a pathetic life with very little relief material received so far. Though the administration has been trying to ease the sufferings of the affected people, the condition in most of the flooded areas is beyond description.
Life in the flood-affected Barpeta district is becoming miserable day by day. All the areas in Sarthebari, Barpeta, Chenga, Baghbar and Kalgachia Circles have been under water since the last five days and 80% of the dwelling houses have been submerged. Affected families have taken shelter in roads and embankments, besides some public buildings in the vicinity.
The Government has established only 73 relief camps for the affected people. The maximum number of 61 camps have been established under Barpeta Revenue Circle with 6,450 inmates as against 4,58,000 affected people. Against 2,58,423 affected people under Kalgachia Revenue Circle, the number of relief camps is 11 with 3,001 inmates. Under Sarthebari Revenue Circle where 2,44,880 people have been recorded as flood affected, there is only one relief camp with 950 inmates.
Dwelling houses of more than half of the affected people haven�t remained suitable for living after waist-deep water inside their houses. The affected people have shifted their beds along with kitchen and other belonging to the roads, embankments and other public places. School buildings where they have taken shelter have also been submerged.
People living in makeshift tents under their own initiative have to sleep and eat in a very unhygienic condition with their pets under the same roof too. Besides, they have no facility of drinking water, not to speak of the menace of mosquitoes and other insects. Most of the people living in such conditions have not been provided any kind of assistance like food, tarpaulin, medicine, sanitary items or baby food. Although the district administration has supplied the relief material, it has not reached every affected family. Only a few families own boats and others have to depend on plantain rafts for shifting their belongings from their homes to the makeshift tents.
There is no electricity since the last five days in the worst-affected areas. As the sun sets, vast areas of the district plunge into darkness. Batteries of mobile phones and inverters have been exhausted in individual households, offices and even banks. Withdrawal of money from banks have been a problem. Mobile and internet services have been disrupted. Supply of kerosene is too less to meet the requirement of the vast population. In the markets of some areas, where the road communication has been snapped, there is no food to buy.
In spite of all the odds, a ray of hope for the people is that the water level of almost all the rivers are receding since last evening. If this trend continues for another two to three days, flood will subside in the northern parts of the district. But it will take another eight to ten days to improve the condition in the southern parts as the rivers in the district flow from north to south and water level of the rivers in the southern areas are still increasing.
Important historical places like Barpeta Satra, Jagannath temple at Sarthebari, Madhabdeva Satra at Gomura and Krishnaguru Sewashram at Nasatra are still under water. Likewise, rehearsal houses of Binapani Theatre and Surjya Theatre are also under waist-deep water.
Most of the affected areas are not accessible for proper assessment of the damage done. Road communication has been snapped and may require a long time to restore.
