A resident sits on the steps of a flood-affected house surrounded by inundated water
NEW DELHI: At least 21 people were killed in Assam in the last 24 hours as the flood situation worsened, with more than 5.64 lakh people affected across 16 districts, according to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).The latest fatalities included 13 deaths in Sivasagar, five in Charaideo, two in Golaghat and one in Jorhat, the ASDMA said in its late-night bulletin.With the latest deaths, the overall flood toll this year has risen to 31.The number of affected people increased sharply from 3.63 lakh in 15 districts on Monday to over 5.64 lakh. Sivasagar remained the worst-hit district, with 3.59 lakh people affected, followed by Jorhat (87,662) and Charaideo (72,646).A total of 872 villages across 44 revenue circles remained inundated, while 71 relief camps sheltering 12,284 displaced people and 202 relief distribution centres are currently operational.Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said he would visit the worst-affected districts on Wednesday to review relief and rescue operations.”The recent #AssamFloods, caused by the cloudburst upstream, have brought immense hardship to our people. Tomorrow I will be visiting flood-affected areas and relief camps… to review the relief operations,” Sarma said in a post on X.Several rivers, including the Dikhou, Disang and Brahmaputra, continued to flow above the danger mark or highest flood level at multiple locations. Rescue operations are being carried out by the Air Force, NDRF, SDRF and Fire and Emergency Services.Train services remained disrupted for the second consecutive day after floodwaters submerged railway tracks in parts of Sivasagar district. The Northeast Frontier Railway has cancelled, diverted or short-terminated several trains and is operating special services for stranded passengers.The Department of Telecommunications has also activated the Intra-Circle Roaming (ICR) facility in Sivasagar, Charaideo and Jorhat until July 24 to ensure uninterrupted mobile connectivity in the flood-hit areas.
