Assam’s flood situation is showing signs of improvement with the water level of most rivers maintaining a receding trend while over 22 lakh remain affected across the state, officials said on Monday. However, the situation in Silchar, headquarter town of Cachar district, remained grim as several areas are still waterlogged, officials said. The toll in the state has increased to 126 after five deaths were reported on Sunday while two others had gone missing.
The total number of affected people declined to 22.21 lakh in 28 districts on Sunday while the figure was 25.10 lakh on the previous day, according to a bulletin issued by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA). The rivers Kopili, Barak and Kushiara are flowing above the danger level. In Silchar town, which is submerged for over a week, efforts are on to provide relief to those areas where the administration is yet to reach by air to drop packets with food, drinking water and other essential items by Indian Air Force helicopters.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is monitoring and conducting a survey to prepare a flood map of Silchar town so as to identify the extent of damage in different areas and help in taking measures to mitigate the damage in future, Cachar Deputy Commissioner Keerthi Jalli said.
NDRF deploys 3 women rescuers for ops in Silchar
The NDRF has deployed a team of three women rescuers for undertaking flood rescue duties in Assam, making it one of the first operations where female combatants of the federal contingency force have been tasked to handle a major disaster.
Constables O Indrani Devi, Alpana Das and Rekha Devi are rescuing the marooned and providing food, medicines, water and other relief material to the affected in Silchar, the headquarter of Cachar district, a senior NDRF officer said.
While Indrani Devi hails from Manipur, Das and Rekha Devi are from Assam and belong to the 12th National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) battalion based in Arunachal Pradesh. The women are part of a team that also has men NDRF personnel and they are armed with life-saving jackets and inflatable boats, the officer said.
Railways to ferry relief materials free of cost
Railways will transport all relief materials to the flood affected north eastern states free of cost, officials said on Monday. The free transportation will be applicable for inter-state and intra-state aid and relief materials by parcel vans or second class, luggage cum guard van and goods trains, North East Frontier Railways spokesperson said.
All types of freight charges have been waived off for the purpose from any part of the country to the region and no ancillary charges like demurrage, wharfage or others will be charged for the transportation of relief materials, he said. Less than standard composition rakes can be booked with relief materials for the flood affected region and NGOs can send relief materials free of cost to the flood affected areas of the region.
In case of NGOs the consignor must be the district magistrate in whose jurisdiction the dispatching or the receiving station is situated, the spokesperson said.