By PTI
GUWAHATI: The flood situation in Assam continued to remain grim on Friday with three more people killed and fresh areas inundated, though the number of people affected by the deluge decreased marginally, an official bulletin said.
The daily flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said two persons, including a child, lost their lives in flood waters, while another person died in a landslide.
The total death toll in this year’s flood and landslides in the state has now risen to 190.
The number of affected districts increased by two since Thursday, which include Bajali, Cachar, Chirang, Dibrugarh, Dima Hasao, Golaghat, Hailakandi, Hojai, Kamrup, Karimganj, Morigaon and Nagaon.
As many as 28 revenue circles and 620 villages in 14 districts continue to reel under the impact of the flood.
The ASDMA bulletin said 8,88,177 people continue to be impacted by the deluge, with Cachar district being the worst-hit as more than 5.63 lakh people are in distress.
On Thursday, the total affected population was 9,06,000.
Over 75,000 people have taken shelter in 173 relief camps, while another 19 relief distribution centres are also operational.
No embankment was breached in the past 24 hours, though one was damaged in Karimganj district during the period.
The ASDMA bulletin said large-scale erosion has been reported from Barpeta, Biswanath, Bongaigaon, Darrang, Majuli, Morigaon, Nalbari, Tamulpur, Tinsukia and Udalguri districts.
Reports of landslides were also received from Hailakandi and Karimganj districts since Thursday.
The bulletin added that no river was flowing above the danger mark in the state at present.
As many as 30,000 to 40,000 houses were damaged, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said seeking an advance fund from the NDRF to help the affected people.
Sarma conveyed this to Union Home Minister Amit Shah during a meeting here on Friday evening and sought central help.
The chief minister briefed the home minister that around 30,000 to 40,000 houses were damaged by the deluge, an official statement said on Saturday.
Sarma requested Shah to release an advance amount from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for the rehabilitation of the flood-hit people whose houses were severely or fully damaged.
Later, talking to journalists, Sarma said since Assam’s flood has been labelled “severe” by a central team, which made an assessment of the flood situation, he sought an advance fund from the NDRF to enable the state to help the people whose houses were damaged by the deluge.
“The Centre’s door is always open. There is no dearth of funds. Whatever we present legally and logically we will get the required funds,” he said.
The chief minister said the home minister assured him that the Union home ministry would actively consider his request for immediate release of the advance fund from the NDRF.
Sarma said the state government will give an actual picture of the extent of damage caused by the floods so that it gets the exact funds instead of asking for packages.
He said the target of the government will be to make full utilisation of the State Disaster Response Fund, so that the state gets the NDRF as well as additional funds.
It may be mentioned that the Centre had released Rs 324.40 crore as the state share of the SDRF for 2022-23 as immediate assistance to the Assam government to combat the current floods, the statement said.
