With the monsoon trough moving toward northern parts of
India, overflowing reservoirs and swirling rivers in combination with
lightning strikes have claimed 85 lives over the last few days in Assam,
Bihar and Odisha, displacing close to 68 lakh people and rendering tens
of thousands homeless.
The National Disaster
Response Force and State rescue and relief teams evacuated people from
the danger zones and moved them to camps.
In Assam,
which was the worst-affected on Saturday, more than two dozen lives were
lost in the floods, and about 37 lakh people in 3,300 villages were
displaced from their homes. Close to 80 per cent of the Kaziranga
National Park, home to the one-horned rhinoceros, lay submerged.
Union
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, accompanied by Minster for Development of
North Eastern Region (DONER) Jitendra Singh and Chief Minister
Sarbananda Sonwal, conducted an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas of
the State. In all, 14 NDRF flood rescue teams have been deployed and 64
boats pressed into service in Assam.
Mr. Singh held a
review meeting with the Chief Minister, senior officials and rescue and
relief teams, and promised all help from the Centre.
The
swollen Ganga breached a two-km stretch of an embankment at Birnagar
near the Farakka Barrage. ADM (Land Reforms) for Malda, Kanchan
Chowdhury, told a press conference that repairs were under way on a war
footing.
In Bihar, flood waters affected over 26 lakh
people in 2,034 villages. Among the rivers flowing above the danger
level are Baghmati at Benibad, Kamlabalan at Jhanjharpur and Kosi at
Baltara, the Disaster Management Department said in a statement.
News From: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/85-dead-68-lakh-displaced-as-rains-pound-north-east/article8923300.ece
