North East floods: Toll reaches 83, 58 districts affected by the deluge
In Assam alone, 53 deaths have been reported from 26 districts.
The toll in the floods and landslides that have hit as many as 58 districts across Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur has touched 83, Reuters reported on Friday. The floods have also claimed three rare one-horned rhinoceros at the Kaziranga National Park.
More than two million people have been displaced in the North East, authorities said. In Assam alone, at least 53 deaths have been reported and over 17 lakh people have been affected in 26 districts across the state because of the deluge.
“Assam is the worst hit with 53 lives lost so far in floods and landslides with some 2 million people displaced,” said Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. “Relief and rescue operations are going on a war footing.”
Union minister Jitendra Singh reviewed the flood situation in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur with officials from these states. “The damage caused by the rainfall is unprecedented,” he said, while confirming that 83 people have lost their lives in the floods and landslides. However, he said the damage has been mostly contained.
Singh, who is the minister of state for development of the north eastern region, said the Centre will support the state governments.
Assam’s Forest Minister Pramila Rani Brahma said a one-horned rhinoceros drowned on Friday, taking the toll of the endangered animals to three. Kaziranga, a Unesco World Heritage site, is home to around 2500 rhinos out of the world population of some 3,000. Brahma said nearly 60 other animals, mostly deer and wild boars, have also been killed in the floods.
On Thursday, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Thursday undertook an aerial survey of flood-hit districts in Assam. Rijiju had ordered the authorities to speed up rescue operations since it had not rained in the state the past two days.
The Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation said 17 hog deer were rescued from the Kaziranga National Park, and 13 of them were released again into the wild on Thursday, PTI reported.
“Two were found dead on arrival and two are under care at CWRC,” the organisation said in a statement. “One male rhino calf, aged about 3-4 months and displaced from Burhapahar Forest Range due to floods, has been admitted today.”