Incessant rains over the past three days have caused breaches in embankments along the Brahmaputra river and triggered floods in many parts of Assam.
Assam’s Revenue and Rehabilitation Minister Bhumidhar Barman said at least two lakh people have been affected across the state, meaning they were either displaced, trapped in submerged villages or had their agricultural land come under water.
Authorities have sounded a “red alert” for Laxmipur district where a stretch of 100 metres of the Matmora embankment was washed away by an overflowing Brahmaputra on Wednesday morning.
District officials have been asked to prepare for any kind of rescue operation that may become necessary, said Wasbir Hussain, additional district commissioner of Laxmipur.
Nearly 300 villages with a combined population of about 1 lakh have been affected by the breach in Laxmipur, which is about 400 kilometres east of Guwahati, Assam’s capital.
The embankment was under construction. A Malayasian company has been commissioned to build it using such technologies that could withstand the fury of the Brahmaputra during the monsoon season.
Floods during this time are routine in Assam, which sees incessant rains through the monsoon season.
Elswhere in the state, the Brahmaputra breached the embankment at Borbil in Majuli, the country’s largest river island located 300 kilometers east of Guwahati.
In lower Assam, the Ai River created havoc in North Salmara sub-division in Bongaigaon district. Surging waters of the river inundated agricultural land in the district.
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