By PTI
GUWAHATI/HAFLONG: Four more people died in the deluge in Assam taking the toll to 18, while floodwaters entered new areas pushing the number of affected districts to 31, a government bulletin said on Saturday.
However, the number of people hit by the calamity decreased marginally to 6,80,118 lakh, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said.
On Friday, the number of the affected population was 7,11,905 and that of the district was 29.
Nagaon remained the worst-hit district with 3.39 lakh people affected, followed by Cachar (1.77 lakh) and Hojai (70,233), as per the ASDMA bulletin.
As many as 74,907 flood-hit people have taken shelter in 282 relief camps, while another 214 relief distribution centres are operational.
Army, paramilitary forces, NDRF, SDRF, trained volunteers and various agencies continued to be deployed in rescue and relief operations.
A report from Haflong, the headquarters of Dima Hasao which has been among the affected districts, said that efforts are on to restore communication channels to all parts of the hill district.
A Northeast Frontier Railway release said that due to waterlogging and landslides at various locations in the Lumding-Badarpur hill section, 11 pairs of trains were cancelled and five pairs of trains short terminated or short originated.
Train services in the hill section have remained suspended for over a week due to damage to tracks and landslides in different locations.
Damages to embankments, roads, bridges, houses and other infrastructure continued to be reported from all parts of the affected areas, the ASDMA bulletin said.
At a review meeting, the National Highway Authority of India authorities assured Chief Secretary Jishnu Barua that the stretch of road between Jatinga and Harangajao in Dima Hasao district will be restored within a week.
An additional amount of Rs 3 crore was allotted to Hojai district for providing gratuitous relief to affected people, the ASDMA added.
