The flood situation in Assam deteriorated sharply over the past 24 hours, with 21 more people losing their lives, pushing the overall death toll to 31, according to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).
ASDMA said 13 deaths were reported from Sivasagar district, five from Charaideo, two from Golaghat and one from Jorhat during the last 24 hours.
The floods have affected more than 5.64 lakh people across 16 districts, including Golaghat, Kamrup, Hojai, Dibrugarh, Biswanath, Dhemaji, Sonitpur, Udalguri, Nagaon, Charaideo, Kamrup Metropolitan, Jorhat, Tinsukia, Karbi Anglong, Lakhimpur and Sivasagar.
Sivasagar remains the worst-hit district
Sivasagar continues to be the worst-affected district, with more than 3.59 lakh people impacted. Jorhat has reported 87,662 affected people, followed by Charaideo with 72,646, Dibrugarh with 18,615 and Golaghat with 16,799.
According to the ASDMA, floodwaters have submerged 24,210.35 hectares of agricultural land and affected 872 villages spread across 44 revenue circles.
Over 1.14 lakh people in relief camps
District administrations have set up 273 relief camps and relief distribution centres, where more than 1.14 lakh people have taken shelter.
Relief and rescue operations are being carried out by the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), the police and local administration.
NDRF rescues five people in Jorhat
The NDRF also carried out a rescue operation at Seleng Ghat near Seleng Tea Estate under the Teok Revenue Circle in Jorhat district after receiving an alert from the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on July 19.
An NDRF team rescued five people, including a young girl stranded on the roof of her submerged house, a man caught in strong flood currents and three women trapped by rising waters.
The team also evacuated an elderly woman suffering from severe hypothermia after prolonged exposure to floodwater. She was given pre-hospital treatment before being shifted, along with the other rescued people, to a relief centre for further medical care and rehabilitation.