28 Oct : Flash floods caused by release of excess water from dams in Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan have submerged over 100 villages in Assam on Tuesday.
Flash floods in lower Assam’s Kamrup (Rural) district has cut surface communication between the state and the rest of the country.Official sources said water from dams in Arunachal Pradesh rushed down and coupled with heavy rain submerged 50 villages in Lakhimpur district on Monday night.
The Rohmoria embankments on the Brahmaputra river protecting the districts of upper Assam have suffered erosion of 70 m.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced funds to protect Rohmoria during his visit to the state in January but locals complain that no work has started so far.
Villages of Habichuk, Gorpara and Kunwar are affected by the flash flood.In lower Assam’s Puthimari area in Kamrup (Rural) district, over 70 villages have been submerged following release of excess water from dams in Bhutan.
Heavy rain have also submerged a large part of Nameri National Park in Sonitpur district.Official sources said rains for the past three days in Puthimari and upper reaches of the surrounding mountains caused an embankment to breach on Monday night at around 11.
The flood waters affected over 70,000 people, damaged standing paddy crops ready for harvest and overtopped the National Highway-31 that connects the state to rest of the country through West Bengal.
The worst-affected areas were Hahara, Kundukona, Moranjona, Kosoruwa, Bamungaon and Sotsil.The district administration has called in BSF personnel and National Disaster Response Force with eight motor boats for rescuing the affected people.
The administration has set up two relief camps in Puthimari for the flood-hit people, some of whom were sheltering on unaffected parts of the NH-31 and on embankments.
The embankment at Puthimari which had breached on 31st August during the monsoons had developed cracks within five days of repair at a cost of Rs 19 lakh on 15th September, the sources said.