Latest news with #AssamStateDisasterManagement
Hindustan Times
5 days ago
- Climate
- Hindustan Times
Heavy rain continues to batter Assam, disrupting train services, road transport
Guwahati/Rangia, Heavy rain continued to pound Assam on Sunday, disrupting road transport and train services in the northeastern state, where eight people have died in floods and landslides so far, officials said. Over 78,000 residents have been affected in more than 15 districts, they said. The Central Water Commission has issued an 'orange bulletin' for the state in view of the 'severe flood situation' as 10 major rivers, including the Brahmaputra and Barak, were flowing above the danger level. A Northeast Frontier Railway spokesperson said that in the wake of heavy rainfall over the past 24 hours and water flowing over the tracks on the Baraigram-Dullabcherra section, the Dullabcherra-Silchar passenger train has been cancelled for the day. The Dullabcherra-Guwahati Express will start from Baraigram instead of Dullabcherra, he added. Large portions of National Highway-17 have been overtopped near Shingra Shalnibari in Chaygaon area of Kamrup district since Saturday, the officials said. Heavy rain coupled with water flowing down from neighbouring Meghalaya has aggravated the situation in the area, they said. Measures were being taken to facilitate traffic movement using alternative routes, the officials said. The CWC bulletin said the Brahmaputra was flowing above the danger level in Dibrugarh and Nematighat . Other rivers that have breached the danger mark are Dhaleswari at Gharmura , Rukni at Dholai , Katakhal at Matijuri , Barak at Badarpur Ghat , Buridehing at Margherita , Kushiyara in Sribhumi, Dhansiri at Numaligarh and Kopili at Kampur , it said. An Assam State Disaster Management bulletin had said that till Saturday evening, five people have been killed in landslides and three in floods. Three districts in the western part of the state were on 'red alert' on Saturday and eight more on 'orange alert', as per Regional Meteorological Centre data, even as rainwater from upstream areas of Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya worsened the flood situation in Assam. Multiple agencies, including the NDRF, SDRF, police, fire and emergency services personnel were pressed into relief and rescue operations, with people evacuated to safety from flood-affected areas, the officials said. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said on Friday that the state was facing an 'abnormal situation' due to incessant downpour caused by massive cloud cover over several parts of the northeast.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
India monsoon floods kill five in northeast
Torrential monsoon rains in India's northeast triggered landslides and floods that swept away and killed at least five people in Assam, disaster officials said Saturday. India's annual monsoon season from June to September offers respite from intense summer heat and is crucial for replenishing water supplies, but also brings widespread death and destruction. The deaths recorded are among the first of this season, with scores often killed over the course of the rains across India, a country of 1.4 billion people. The monsoon is a colossal sea breeze that brings South Asia 70-80 percent of its annual rainfall. Rivers swollen by the lashing rain -- including the mighty Brahmaputra and its tributaries -- broke their banks across the region. But the intensity of rain and floods has increased in recent years, with experts saying climate change is exacerbating the problem. Assam State Disaster Management Authority officials on Saturday confirmed five deaths in the last 24 hours. A red alert warning had been issued for 12 districts of Assam after non-stop rains over the last three days led to flooding in many urban areas. The situation was particularly bad in the state capital Guwahati. City authorities have disconnected the electricity in several districts to cut the risk of electrocution. Several low-lying areas of Guwahati were flooded, with hundreds of families forced to abandon homes to seek shelter elsewhere. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said his government had deployed rescue teams. "We have been reviewing the impending situation for the last three days", he said in a statement, saying that supplies of rice had been dispatched as food aid. South Asia is getting hotter and in recent years has seen shifting weather patterns, but scientists are unclear on how exactly a warming planet is affecting the highly complex monsoon. On Monday, lashing rains swamped India's financial capital Mumbai, where the monsoon rains arrived some two weeks earlier than usual, the earliest for nearly a quarter century, according to weather forecasters. str/bb/pjm/mtp
