NALBARI, June 15 - Heavy rain has badly affected normal life in Nalbari town, as all important roads and several residential areas remained submerged in rainwater today.
Waterlogging forced the people to stay confined to their homes. Areas like Bidyapur, Gopalbazar, Thana Chawk, Khatabari, Islam Suba, Hajo bus stand, Chawk Bazaar, Satra MV School remained under knee-deep water.
Communication has been disrupted on Palla road, Hajo road, College road, Barama road. Many government offices, including those of the executive engineer, Water Resources, executive engineer PWD, forest office, district agriculture office are also submerged. Attendance in the offices was very thin today.
The people of the town blamed the Nalbari Municipal Board and MLA Ashok Sarma for failing to provide any relief.
ANN Service from Badarpur adds: The flood situation in various places of Karimganj district, especially in Patherkandi assembly constituency, has worsened. Floodwaters from the swollen rivers, Singla, Langai and Kushiara, have affected more than 60,000 people of over 100 villages under Patherkandi.
Official sources informed The Assam Tribune that many houses and vast crop areas have been completely submerged.
Patherkandi MLA Krishnendu Paul and Karimganj Deputy Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Talukder, accompanied by BJP leaders, visited the flood-hit areas and spoke to the people.
Karimganj district administration sources said 55 relief camps in Patherkandi and three in Karimganj town have been set up so far. Many villages in Patherkandi circle, including Baithakhal, Radha Payari Bazar, Asaighat, Salgoi, Hatikhira, Lowairpowa and Siber Gol, are completely under water.
Several places in Karimganj town, like Charbazar, Charakuri, Madan Mohan Road, Red Cross Hospital; Karimganj Bisarjan Ghat, along with four Border Out Posts, have gone under the floodwaters. District administration sources said relief and food materials have been distributed among the flood victims.
Officials from the Assam State Disaster Management informed that NDRF and SDRF teams have been engaged in search, relief and rescue operations. They said that 422 people have been rescued from floodwaters in Karimganj, Cachar and Hailakandi districts.
Official sources also informed that Army and BSF have been asked to remain on standby in Karimganj district.
NF Railway sources said work to clear areas hit by landslides in the Lumding-Badarpur Hill Section is going on in full swing. Railway officials and engineers have rushed to the spots, and are working to repair the tracks for restoration of services.
Goalpara Correspondent adds: Heavy showers on Thursday evening brought a pool of woes for the residents of Dostinagar No 1 and 2 Colony in the heart of Goalpara town. The rain led to severe waterlogging, and many houses in these areas were submerged.
People of the area said that due to the absence of a proper drainage system, the rain water entered their houses, damaging some of their valuable properties.
Residents of Dostinagar said that earlier the excess rain water flowed through a pipe via Harbhanga pool near Dostinagar Masjid into the Hasila Beel but that outlet was blocked as the drain was on patta land.
Rain water also flowed through a natural kutcha drain along the Goalpara-Pancharatna road. The state highway was newly paved and a proper drain was built over the existing natural drain to increase the life of the road. The residents said the level of this new drain was higher, the rain water cannot pass through, resulting in waterlogging.
The residents criticised the Goalpara Municipal Board (GMB) for the poor drainage system, and questioned the high taxes imposed on the people without providing basic amenities.
They said this incident showed the lack of preparedness to deal with artificial flood in Goalpara town.
