GUWAHATI, Aug 16 � Flood situation in Dhemaji district worsened with the Gai river inundating 247 villages yesterday affecting a total population of around 1.4 lakh and damaging a crop area of over 19,000 hectares. However, the flash flood-related situation in Lakhimpur district is stated to have been improving.
Meanwhile, the Brahmaputra is flowing over the danger level (DL) at Neamatighat with a rising trend. The Dhansiri (South) is also flowing over the DL at Numaligarh, but with a steady trend and the Beki river is flowing over the DL at the Road Bridge point with a falling trend, said the Central Water Commission in its evening flood bulletin here today.
Road communication to Dhemaji district has been disrupted and the district is cut off from the rest of the State, as about 50 metres of the NH-52 has been washed away by the floodwater of the Gai river near Gai Nadi area and another portion of the highway has been breached by the Jiadhal floodwater at Samarajan near the Kumatiya bridge.
According to Dhemaji District Students� Union (DDSU) president Chittaranjan Basumatary, the Gai, the Simen, the Lali, the Jiadhal, the Na Nadi and the Subansiri have been creating havoc in the Dhemaji district. However, District Disaster Management Authority sources in the district attribute the present situation to the swirling flood water of the Gai river.
Though the DDSU president has claimed that Mula Chutiya, a 73-year-old lady of Gai Nadi area was drowned in the Gai river yesterday and her body was recovered today from the Gharmura area, Dhemaji District Disaster Management Authority (DDDMA) sources have been maintaining that so far no flood-related casualty has been reported from any part of the district.
The DDSU president has also claimed that Ratul Chutiya (21) belonging to the family of Mula Chutiya has been reported missing since yesterday morning. He is feared to have been washed away by the Gai river.
DDDMA sources told this newspaper that the floodwater of the Gai river has affected an area of 8,120 hectares in Dhemaji revenue circle, 100 hectares in Sisi Bargaon revenue circle, 8,959 hectares in Gogamukh revenue circle and 2,000 hectares in Jonai revenue circle.
The Dhemaji district administration has deployed four machine boats and ten country boats for relief and rescue operations and these boats have been operated by the DDDMA with the help of Inland Water Transport personnel, DDDMA sources said.
Two mobile medical camps have been operating in the flood-hit areas of the district. However, the amount of damage is still under assessment, said the DDDMA sources.
The flood havoc created by the five rivers in Dhemaji district has resulted in serious resentment among the political as well as non-political circles here. While the CPI has demanded adequate compensation to the flood victims, the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba-Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) has demanded direct intervention of the Prime Minister in the matters related to flood control measures, rescue and relief operations etc.
Moreover, the DDSU has demanded a special package for relief and rehabilitation of the flood victims.
The DDSU has been distributing relief materials like drinking water bottles, clothes and polythene sheets among the flood-hit people and cooperating with the district administration in rescuing the marooned people, said DDSU president Basumatary.
An Indian Air Force release received here today said that the helicopters under the Eastern Air Command based at Mohanbari were tasked to carry out flood relief operations near Dhemaji town. The helicopters rescued seven marooned persons who were waiting for rescue parties in waist-deep water. The operation was carried out at the request of the civil administration, said the press release.
About 300 people of Dokobari village, who were affected by the flood, were asked to move to safer places or to places from where they could be airlifted. But they were found to be reluctant to go by the advice, said the IAF press release.
The flash flood-related situation in Lakhimpur has been improving, said the Lakhimpur District Disaster Management Authority (LDDMA). The flash flood of Kumatiya in Subansiri revenue circle, the Ghagor in Kadam revenue circle and the Johing in North Lakhimpur revenue circle have affected 5,287 people.
Two cases of flood-related death have been reported from the district and one of them has been identified to be an 18-month-old girl Kalpana Gohain of Subansiri revenue circle, while the other one has been identified as a 45-year-old woman Sukurmoni Munda of the Khori Line of the Anand TE in Kadam Revenue Circle. Bodies of both victims have been recovered, said the LDDMA sources.
Dhemaji Correspondent adds: The most affected villages are Kechukhana Kachari Gaon, Kechukhana Koch Gaon, Misamari, Bothadoi, rotua, Kapahtoli, Naruathan, Bordolpara, Chakaladalani, Ghuguha, Balijan, Samarajan, Changmaibari, Sarudhekera, Garubandha and Laumuri, among others.
A stretch of about 5 km of the Butikur �Ghilamara Road is also under floodwater and this has resulted in total disruption of the road communication to the district. Meanwhile, a portion of the railway track has also been washed away by the surging floodwater of the Jiadhal river near Samarajan.
Our Tezpur Correspondent adds: Normal flow of the river Tarasu has remained blocked for the last seven days due to massive landslides at upper Tarasu in Arunachal Pradesh.
The Tarasu is a major tributary of the river Buroi in Biswanath subdivision of Sonitpur district. The residents of both upper and lower Tarasu were evacuated by the local authorities. However, it is alleged that the Sonitpur district administration and the water resources department had not taken any steps to prevent the damage caused by the flood.
It is pertinent to mention here that because of the same causes in 2004 the Seijusa multi-crore-rupee irrigation project was washed away, and the people badly affected then are yet to be rehabilitated.
