Guwahati: A rescue team comprising eight State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel and a revenue official of Dhemaji, Assam, along with 13 fishermen stranded in separate locations of flood-hit Assam, were airlifted to safety.
Rising river levels and strong currents amidst heavy rainfall have posed severe challenges to both the affected people and the relief and rescue operations in the state.
According to reports, the rescue team was stranded in a sandbar (chapori) while conducting rescue and relief operations in Dhemaji district on Sunday.
Official sources said the rescue boat used by the SDRF men had capsized in the Siyang River during the operation at Siboguri in Dhemaji district and that it was difficult for the other SDRF teams to move with rescue boats to that spot owing to the rising water level and high river current.
On the other hand, 13 fishermen who were stranded in the middle of Brahmaputra at Hatia Ali in Dibrugarh district since Friday were also airlifted by an IAF helicopter on Tuesday morning.
According to the Dibrugarh district commissioner, SDRF, NDRF, and IWT boats could not be sent to the area to rescue the fishermen owing to the increasing river water level and high river currents.
Subsequently, the DC requested the Revenue and Disaster Management Department to provide a chopper to rescue the stranded fishermen.
Accordingly, the chief executive officer of Assam State Disaster Management Authority contacted the central government, following which the chopper was deployed to rescue the trapped men.
Meanwhile, the Brahmaputra at Nimatighat (Jorhat), Tezpur (Sonitpur) Guwahati (Kamrup), Dhubri (Dhubri); Subansiri at Badatighat (Lakhimpur); Burhidihing at Chenimari (Dibrugarh); Dikhou at Sivasagar; Disang at Nanglamuraghat (Sivasagar); Dhansiri at Numaligarh (Golaghat); Jia-Bharali at NT Road Crossing (Sonitpur); Kopili at Kampur (Nagaon) were flowing above danger level, a report of the Central Water Commission informed on Tuesday morning.
As it is, heavy rains have lashed several parts of Assam and other Northeastern states over the past few weeks.
According to a report of the IMD on Tuesday morning, the average rainfall recorded in Assam stood at 44.4 mm, Arunachal Pradesh at 59.5 mm, Meghalaya at 168.0 mm, Nagaland at 20.7 mm, Manipur at 18.7 mm, Mizoram: 29.9 mm while Tripura recorded 55.8 mm.
As of Tuesday morning, 20 districts and a population of 6, 71,167 remain affected by the deluge. Till Monday evening, 35 human lives (18 in Cachar alone), have been lost in two waves of the flood. Notably, the second wave of flood has inundated many areas in the state since June 16, 2024
According to ASDMA, 72 relief camps are currently providing shelter to 8142 flood-affected people. NDRF teams have been deployed at Cachar, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Golaghat, Majuli and Lakhimpur.
SDRF, Fire and Emergency Service personnel, police forces, and AAPDA Mitra volunteers of ASDMA have been helping the district administration in flood-hit areas.
So far, 614 deep divers and 159 SDRF personnel with 295 boats have also been deployed in 54 locations across Assam, official sources said. As of Tuesday, rescue operations were being undertaken in the affected areas of Golaghat, Tinsukia, and Majuli.
Embankments have been breached in Golaghat, Jorhat, Nagaon, and Majuli while roads have been damaged at Barpeta, Biswanath, Dhemaji: Golaghat: Karimganj: Kokrajhar; Lakhimpur; Majuli; Nalbari; Sonitpur; Tinsukia and Udalguri.
Notably, since May 28, 2024, as many as 34 districts, 3972 villages and a population of 16.73 lakh have been affected by the deluge.
On the other hand, the state government has conducted six thematic meetings with various line departments and agencies covering areas such as coordination for response; relief camp management; critical infrastructure preparedness; ensuring continuity of services; risk communication and reporting, and damage assessment.
Video conferencing has been conducted by the chief executive officer of ASDMA with all District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMAs) while state-level flood preparedness meetings have been conducted under the chairmanship of the Assam chief secretary.
“SOPs for ensuring assured minimum facilities at the relief camps have been issued and shared with all DDMAs. Nodal officers from the revenue and disaster management department and ASDMA for the notified districts have visited their concerned districts and reviewed flood preparedness measures in the districts,” an official said.
Meanwhile, floods have prompted the cancellation of the State Open School (SOS) examination (Higher Secondary level) under the Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC), which was scheduled to be held on Wednesday.
“In view of most of the rivers in the state of Assam flowing above danger level, followed by heavy floods in most of the districts in the state, it is hereby notified to all the concerned institutions under AHSEC that the SOS examination of HS level examination, April-May-2024, scheduled to be held from July 3, 2024, is suspended until further notice,” the secretary of the council stated in a notification on Tuesday.
“All the institutions which have been selected as examination centres for conducting the said examination are requested to inform all the tagged institutions/learners as the case may be, about the suspension of the said examination,” the notification read.
However, the council stated that the examination would be scheduled afresh once the flood situation improves and the water level recedes.
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“Necessary programme for conducting the examination will be communicated to all concerned in due course of time. Hence, all officers-in-charge of all the selected examination centre(s) are hereby directed to keep all the confidential materials in safe custody at police stations and treasury offices as the case may be, and the blank answer scripts and additional answer scripts,” the council’s secretary stated.
“The officers in charge of the examination centres will liaise with the officers in charge of the police stations and treasury officers for safe custody of the same,” the notification added.
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