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Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal (2nd R) along with officials visits the flood affected Krishnaguru Sewa Ashram at Na Satra, Sarthebari in Barpeta district on Monday (PTI)[/caption]
Guwahati, July 15 (IANS/PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke to Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal over phone and took stock of the ongoing flood situation in the state, where 15 people have been killed in floods and landslides and over 46 lakh have been affected.
Sonowal apprised him of the steps taken by the state government to help the affected people across the state's 30 districts and was assured of all help to deal with the situation, according to a statement from the Chief Minister's Office.
An official of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority on Monday said that 4,175 villages, with 46.28 lakh people, have been affected due to the floods, as of Monday afternoon.
The official said that close to 90,000 hectares of agricultural lands have been affected due to the floods, some with standing crops on them.
The government has pressed the National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force to help the marooned people in different districts even as Army has been called in to assist the civil administration in relief and rescue operations in different parts of the state.
Over 10 lakh animals have also been affected.
Meanwhile, the opposition Congress has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led state government of failing to handle the flood situation and demanded the Central government to immediately depute teams to guide and advise to deal with situation, and release required funds to carry out relief and rescue and rehabilitation measures on a war footing.
1.14 lakh people affected by flood in M’laya Garo Hills district
Incessant rain across Meghalaya for the last seven days and rising waters of two rivers flooded the plains of West Garo Hills district, affecting at least 1.14 lakh people, officials said on Monday.
A total of 57,700 people, residents of 50 villages in Demdema block and over 66,400, residents of 104 villages in Selsella block have been affected due to the floods, they said.
Rising waters of the Brahmaputra and the Jinjiram rivers, both flowing from Assam, submerged the low-lying areas of the district, an official said.
Meanwhile, the low-lying areas of the state's capital city Shillong were also flooded.
"A flood-like situation was created in the low-lying areas of the city," the Deputy Commissioner of East Khasi Hills district, M W Nongbri," said.
The Meghalaya government on Sunday announced seven days of Gratuitous Relief (GR) for the flood-affected people of West Garo Hills district, an official said.
Efforts are on to evacuate the flood victims and take them to safer locations, the official said.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma could conduct an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas on Sunday due to inclement weather, the MLA of Phulbari, S G Esmatur Mominin, said.
"We are continuously monitoring the situation and will keep the people informed if the situation worsens," said the MLA.
"We have seen the effect of the flood on the people and have come to help them at this time," the MLA of Selsella, F C A Sangma, said.
Over 22,000 people have been shifted to relief camps and other safer places in Tripura and Mizoram due to flooding of low-lying areas and villages by uninterrupted rains over the past three days, officials said on Monday.
At least four people were drowned in swollen rivers in the two states and their bodies have been recovered.
Train services between Tripura, Mizoram and the rest of the country have been affected due to rain and landslides, while water, electricity and telephone services were badly affected due to damages in the heavy downpour.
India Meteorological Department Director Dilip Saha, however, told IANS that the situation is expected to improve from Tuesday.
According to officials in Tripura Disaster Control Centre, over 17,000 people have taken shelter in 64 relief camps on the outskirts of Agartala and four other districts - Khowai, Unokoti, Gomati and South Tripura.
"We have deployed Tripura State Rifles troopers and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), police and civil defence personnel to rescue the marooned people," West Tripura District Magistrate Sandeep Mahatme told the media.
"Water in several rivers, including Howrah, has crossed the danger level. We have taken precautionary measures to deal with any eventuality," he said.
The body of a youth who had apparently drowned while collecting wood from the flooded Muhuri river in South Tripura was recovered on Sunday, officials said.
Agartala and its outskirts have been badly affected due to the continuous rain since Saturday and a large part of the city has been submerged
"Around 311 mm rainfall was recorded in Agartala since Saturday against the normal average daily rainfall of 11 to 12 mm," a Revenue and Relief Department official said.
Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has asked Chief Secretary Usurupati Venkateswarlu and other officials to remain alert to deal with the situation.
In Mizoram, over 5,000 people have taken shelter in safer places in different districts as major rivers and their tributaries submerged over 500 houses and low lying areas.
Three people, including a 5-year-old girl, drowned in different rivers and their bodies were recovered by the State Disaster Response Force personnel.
According to the Mizoram Disaster Control Centre, headquarters of three of the state's eight districts - Mamit, Lunglei and Lawngtlai - were cut-off from capital Aizawl due to heavy landslides and damage to roads including National Highway 54.
