After the heat wave the deluge. Flash floods, triggered by torrential rains over the past two weeks, have rendered at least four lakh people homeless in Assam. This at a time when several states in the country have not yet recovered from a severe dry spell. The monsoon which arrived in the northeast on June 8, 2003, resulted in Brahmaputra river and several of its tributaries overflowing their banks
after the heat wave the deluge. Flash floods, triggered by torrential rains over the past two weeks, have rendered at least four lakh people homeless in Assam. This at a time when several states in the country have not yet recovered from a severe dry spell. The monsoon which arrived in the northeast on June 8, 2003, resulted in Brahmaputra river and several of its tributaries overflowing their banks.
The flood destroyed homes in around 300 villages of Assam, submerging roads, bridges and rail tracks in its wake. Eight districts were hit by the first wave, of which four --Hailakandi, Karimganj, Nalbari and Dhemaji -- have been severely affected. The national highway too was inundated at several spots. The army has now been called to evacuate villagers, whose bamboo and straw houses were washed away.
Assam's flood control minister, Nurzamal Sarkar, revealed that they were providing relief and medicines to the affected people. The Union government has sanctioned a sum of Rs 1.46 crore to tackle flood and erosion in Lakhimpur district. An amount of Rs 7.52 crore has also been allocated for 12 programmes to prevent erosion by Brahmaputra and Gai rivers in Dhemaji district.
A Central Water Commission bulletin said that though the Brahmaputra was still flowing above the danger level at some points, a falling trend was visible in other areas. Even so, officials in the commission expect the situation to worsen because more rains have been forecast for the region.
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