According to estimates, monsoon-triggered heavy rains have caused severe flooding and landslides in northeastern Indian and Bangladesh states, stranding more than 6 million people and killing at least 18 people in both countries. Authorities predict that the situation will worsen in the next days. More than 3 million people have been affected in India’s Assam state, where at least 63 people have died, with eight confirmed deceased on Saturday.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called up Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to assess the situation. The CM also went to a few relief camps in Kamrup and Darrang districts to see how people were faring. The death toll in the state’s current second wave of floods and landslides has risen to 63, with two deaths recorded in Barpeta and Karimganj, and one each in Darrang, Hailakandi, Nalbari, and Sonitpur districts.
Sarma told reporters that the district administration is ready to deal with any emergency and assist flood victims. ‘ The administration has been ordered to guarantee relief supplies and to remove residents from susceptible locations to relief camps. The Army is prepared to assist, and the deputy commissioners have been instructed to accept their support as needed. NDRF and SDRF officers are removing impacted persons to safer locations,’ he stated.
According to a Central Water Commission (CWC) bulletin issued on Saturday, the river Kopili is flowing above the ‘High Flood Level’ in Nagaon district, while other rivers such as the Brahmaputra, Jia-Bharali, Puthimari, Pagladia, Manas, Beki, Barak, and Kushiara are also flowing above the danger level. According to a report released on Saturday by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), over 3.1 million people have been impacted across 32 districts. Over 10,000 people have been displaced in Tripura state owing to flooding since Friday, although no human casualties have been reported, according to sources.
Mawsynram and Cherrapunji in Meghalaya received the most rain since 1940. Water from the river Subansiri has inundated a dam under construction for a hydroelectric power project in neighboring Arunachal Pradesh, according to news agency PTI. Since Friday, at least 15 people have died in eight districts in Bangladesh as a result of lightning strikes, and four have died in landslides, according to police authorities.
Flooding in Bangladesh was compounded by runoff from heavy rain over Indian highlands, according to a government expert. Rain fell again on Saturday, and more are expected over the following two days. ‘Much of the country’s northeast is submerged, and the situation is worsening as heavy rain continues,’ said Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain, the top administrator of Bangladesh’s Sylhet province, according to Reuters.
In recent years, Bangladesh and India have witnessed an increase in harsh weather, inflicting widespread devastation. Environmentalists fear that climate change would exacerbate disasters, particularly in low-lying and heavily populated Bangladesh. According to Hossain, the worst-affected Sunamganj area in Bangladesh is practically cut off from the rest of the nation, and officials, aided by the army, are concentrating on rescuing people stranded and giving relief. ‘ There is a boat scarcity, which makes it more difficult to evacuate people to safer regions. Today, the navy has joined our rescue attempts’, he explained.
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