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Floods claim 5 more lives in State, 40 lakh hit

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, July 16 - Floods claimed five more lives in the State in the past 24 hours while around 40 lakh people in 27 districts are affected. Two persons lost their lives in Morigaon district while one person each died in Lakhimpur, Barpeta and Goalpara districts. With this the death toll due to floods has gone up to 71.

The flood situation is likely to worsen further as the Meteorological Department predicted heavy rainfall in the next 72 hours at isolated places of the State.

According to the daily flood bulletin, altogether 27 districts � Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Sonitpur, Darrang, Baksa, Nalbari, Barpeta, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, South Salmara, Goalpara, Kamrup, Kamrup (Metro), Morigaon, Nagaon, Hojai, Golaghat, Jorhat, Majuli, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong � were reeling under floodwaters, affecting 39,79,563 people in 3,218 villages under 93 revenue circles.

The Brahmaputra in Jorhat, Sonitpur, Kamrup (Metro), Goalpara and Dhubri, Dhansiri in Golaghat, Jia Bharali in Sonitpur, Kopili in Nagaon, Beki in Barpeta, Barak in Cachar and Karimganj and Kushiyara in Karimganj districts were flowing above the danger level.

In the affected districts, floodwaters submerged 1,31,368.27 hectares of cropland, causing extensive damage to paddy cultivation. Till Thursday evening 49,313 flood-affected people are taking shelter in 748 relief camps across the State.

Along with humans, floods affected 13,30,965 big animals, 7,59,717 small animals and 12,85,754 poultry.

In the past 24 hours, floodwaters also damaged a number of embankments in Darrang and Jorhat districts along with several stretches of roads in Biswanath, Lakhimpur, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Darrang, Barpeta, Udalguri, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Morigaon and Sivasagar districts. In this period, a number of incidents of flood-triggered erosion have also been reported from Bongaigaon and Udalguri districts.

Floodwaters have also affected 99 camps in Kaziranga National Park and 12 camps in Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary.

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