GUWAHATI, July 18 - The flood situation in Assam has improved to some extent on Saturday, with the total number of affected people coming down to around 28 lakh from the nearly 36 lakh as recorded on Friday. But the situation may deteriorate again as the meteorological department predicted heavy rainfall in some parts of the State in the next 72 hours.
Meanwhile, the flood-induced death toll of the year touched 79 with three new incidents reported from Barpeta (2) and South Salmara (1) in the past 24 hours.
According to the daily flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), altogether 26 districts � Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Sonitpur, Darrang, Baksa, Nalbari, Barpeta, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, South Salmara, Goalpara, Kamrup, Kamrup (Metro), Morigaon, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat, Majuli, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Karbi Anglong and Cachar � were reeling under floodwaters, affecting 27,63,719 people and submerging 1,16,404.01 hectares of cropland in 2,678 villages under 79 revenue circles.
Even though the situation has shown signs of improvement, the Brahmaputra in Jorhat, Sonitpur, Goalpara and Dhubri, Dhansiri in Golaghat, Jia Bharali in Sonitpur, Kopili in Nagaon, Beki in Barpeta and Kushiyara in Karimganj districts were flowing above the danger level. Among the affected people, 47,465 are taking shelter in 649 relief camps across the State.
In the past 24 hours, floodwaters damaged a number of embankments in Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh and Chirang districts, along with a number of roads in Lakhimpur, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Nagaon, Dibrugarh and Dhubri districts.
Floods also affected 59 camps in Kaziranga National Park and claimed lives of 96 animals so far.
Today a number of incidents of flood-triggered erosion have also been reported from Biswanath, Sonitpur, Udalguri, Darrang, Majuli and South Salmara districts.
