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G Vinayak in Guwahati
The overall flood situation in Assam has taken a turn for the worse with flood waters affecting over 7,50,000 people in 12 of the 23 districts of the state.
Five persons have lost their lives so far. According to an official release issued late on Tuesday night, 830 villages in the districts of Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Tinsukia, Morigaon, Darrang, Jorhat, Sonitpur, Dhubri, Goalpara, Nalbari, Barpeta and Kamrup have been affected.
Surging waters of the Brahmaputra have threatened to overrun the eastern town of Dhemaji, besides inundating large parts of the famous Kaziranga National Park, which is home to the near-extinct one-horned rhinos, and the world's largest river island, Majuli, reports reaching Guwahati said.
A 2 km stretch of a dyke at Dijmur in Arne chapari (island) near Dhemaji was washed away on Monday inundating hundreds of villages in Silahuti, Jonai, Sisitanguri and Kulajan areas of the district. If dykes at two other vulnerable points - Karengchapori and Pipalguri - are breached, the surging water of the mighty Brahmaputra would flow into the heart of Dhemaji and cause huge damage, District Magistrate B R Samal said on the telephone.
The surface and rail communications to the district continued to remain snapped.
In 1,200-sq km Majuli island, about 130 villages and 75,000 people have been affected by floods with communication between Bongaon and Kamalabari, two main centers on the island, snapping after a bridge connecting them was washed away. The flood scene in the river island deteriorated following the breach of an embankment at Tekelifuta in Lakhimpur on Tuesday night.
At Nematighat in the district, the Brahmaputra is flowing 1.30 metres above the danger level.
The flood waters have created havoc in the Kaziranga National Park. According to park director M Vasu, the animals, including rhinos, have begun to move towards the highlands to escape the rising waters. Prohibitory orders have been imposed on the National Highway 37 passing through the park and motorists asked to maintain slow speed to allow the animals to cross the road towards higher land across the highway, he said.
A Central Water Commission bulletin on Tuesday said the Brahmaputra was flowing 1 to 1.5 metres above the danger levels at various places.
"The Brahmaputra and all its tributaries are maintaining a rising trend, with the river flowing 0.94 metres above the danger mark in Guwahati," it said.
Assam Flood Control Minister Nurzamal Sarkar said the flood waters are threatening to burst embankments at Sonitpur and Goalpara districts too.
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