More than 22,000 people were affected in six districts after days of heavy rains in Assam and neighboring Arunachal Pradesh.
Flash floods triggered by heavy rainfall have left devastation across Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, damaging homes and roads, triggering landslides, and causing a major portion of a railway bridge built in 1965 in Assam’s Dhemaji district to collapse.
Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday made a phone call with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to review the first wave of flash floods. More than 22,000 people were affected in six districts after days of heavy rains in Assam and neighboring Arunachal Pradesh.
Flash floods in Assam and railway bridge collapse
Figures released by the Assam Disaster Management Authority showed that a total of 22,124 people were affected by the floods in Dhemaji, Nalbari, Dibrugarh, Chirang, Lakhimpur and Kokrajhar districts.
The Dhemaji district is the most affected area, with 15,483 people affected by rising flood waters. The authority also said that floodwaters submerged 96 villages and damaged about 1,690 hectares of agricultural land.
The incessant rainfall has caused the level of the Brahmaputra River and its tributaries to rise. Apart from affecting people, the floods also affected 48,199 animals.
A portion of the railway bridge collapsed in Dhemaji area, leading to the indefinite suspension of train services between Arcibathar and Simin Chapari stations.
“This bridge, which was constructed in 1965 and later converted into a span bridge, was in good and safe condition, but due to a large portion of the river bank being washed away during heavy rains, one of the piers of the bridge became unstable,” the North Eastern Frontier Railway (NFR) said in a statement.
The railway said that no train was damaged and no one was injured. She added that train services on the low-traffic branch line have already been suspended due to river flooding.
Arunachal flash floods
Days after a cloudburst triggered flash floods and landslides in Arunachal Pradesh, warnings for thunderstorms, lightning and heavy rain remain in force across the state from June 28 to July 1 as the situation continues to deteriorate.
Officials warned that the current weather conditions could lead to more landslides and floods and disrupt daily life in vulnerable areas.
Three people have died so far in rain-triggered floods in Arunachal Pradesh, while search and rescue operations are still underway, officials said.
Rumi Rabha, 46, an employee of North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO), and her husband are currently staying in a temporary relief camp after flash floods swept away their official residence near Busa village.
“It was raining heavily non-stop. Then the border wall collapsed and water rushed in. We managed to get out somehow, but the house was completely swept away. There is nothing left. We are just surviving on whatever food people give us; this is the way we live,” she told news agency ANI.
We do not know what will happen next. We had a lot of property, gold and everything. “All our belongings were here at home. We barely managed to escape, but we couldn’t save anything.”
People who survived the devastating floods described harrowing moments as their homes, livelihoods and possessions were swept away by raging waters. Many families have miraculously survived and are now taking refuge in temporary relief camps.
Heavy rains in Arunachal Pradesh have caused the Liku River to overflow. Locals said this was the first time the Liku River had entered villages on such a large scale. Several villages were submerged by floodwaters, including Kedichuk in Junai district in neighboring Assam state.
With input from agencies
