BARPETA, July 2 - Though the flood water has begun to subside in Barpeta district, reports of inundation of new areas are still pouring in. As of now, over nine lakh people living in 616 villages under eight revenue circles of the district have been affected by the devastating flood. Though the condition of the villages in the northern belt of the district situated near National Highway 31 has slightly improved, it has aggravated towards the south. Most of the villages in the central and southern part of the district are still under flood water for about a week.
Devastating road condition and load-shedding has added to the woes of the suffering people. In some places, lack of food, fodder and drinking water has also added salt to the injury of the poor rural people. People living in a number of villages under Sarthebari revenue circle alleged that they are under flood water for a week but no responsible officer nor public representative has enquired about their condition. They have also not been provided with any kind of assistance till now.
The Sarukshetri Nagarik Manch has demanded supply of adequate food and fodder to the flood-affected people. They have also demanded to undertake proper drainage system so that contaminated water in the residential areas can be drained out at the earliest. In a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner Barpeta, Kamruz Zaman, president and Dulal Deka, secretary of the Manch also demanded to take temporary measures to restore road communication in the area.
Amidst suffering of the people for a week it is reported that Bhutan has discharged its excess water from the Kurichhu Hydropower Plant from 1 pm today. According to information available, it will discharge more than 1000 cumecs of water. As most of the rivers are flowing above the danger mark for several days, water from Kuricchu will add fuel to the fire as the previous records show that Pahumara, Palla and Beki are inflated after such incidents.
