GUWAHATI, July 19 - The Regional Meteorological Centre here on Sunday issued red alert of heavy rainfall till July 21 for Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya. The alert has come at a time when the flood situation of Assam has shown signs of improvement in the last 48 hours.
Meanwhile, flood-induced death toll in the State touched 84 on Sunday with five new fatalities reported from Barpeta (1), Baksa (1), Dhubri (1), Morigaon (1) and Nagaon (1) districts.
According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), altogether 24 districts � Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Darrang, Baksa, Nalbari, Barpeta, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, South Salmara, Goalpara, Kamrup, Kamrup (Metro), Morigaon, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat, Majuli, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and Cachar � were reeling under flood waters, affecting 25,29,312 people and submerging 1,12,138 hectares of cropland in 2,400 villages under 70 revenue circles.
The Brahmaputra river in Jorhat, Sonitpur, Goalpara and Dhubri, Dhansiri in Golaghat, Jia Bharali in Sonitpur, Kopili in Nagaon, Beki in Barpeta, Kushiyara in Karimganj and Sankosh in Dhubri have been flowing above danger level.
According to ASDMA, a total of 4,53,360 people have been affected in Goalpara making it the worst-hit district. In Kamrup (Metro) district, flood waters have affected altogether 43,671 people in Sonapur, Chandrapur and Dispur revenue circles. Among the affected people, 50,559 people are taking shelter in 521 relief camps across the State.
Flood waters have damaged a number of embankments in Dibrugarh and Chirang districts along with a number of roads in Dibrugarh, Barpeta and Goalpara districts in the past 24 hours. Several flood-triggered incidents of erosion have also been reported from Biswanath, Dibrugarh, Majuli and Chirang districts on Sunday.
A number of forest camps in Kaziranga National Park and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary are still reeling under flood waters. In Kaziranga, floods have claimed lives of 108 animals so far.
