Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Guwahati: The flood crisis in Assam has intensified, pushing the death toll to 75 after seven more people died in the Sivasagar district over the last 24 hours. Disaster management officials confirm that 3,32,639 people remain affected across seven districts: Sivasagar, Charaideo, Golaghat, Jorhat, Nagaon, Sonitpur, and Kamrup Metropolitan. Waters continue to submerge 622 villages and 45,341.98 hectares of cropland.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced a major expansion of government aid. Families of the deceased will now receive Rs 9 lakh in total compensation, combining the standard Rs 4 lakh ex-gratia with an additional Rs 5 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. Authorities scrapped the mandatory post-mortem requirement, allowing families to claim funds using a certificate issued by a circle officer. This policy also applies to missing persons if they remain untraced after 30 days.
The state is launching a direct transfer of Rs 15,000 to over one lakh severely affected families in Charaideo, Sivasagar, Golaghat, and Jorhat to cover cleaning and restoration costs. Under the Orunodoi scheme, beneficiaries in these four districts will receive an early, doubled payment of Rs 2,500 on August 1. "Hon'ble Union Home Minister Shri @AmitShah Ji telephoned me a short while ago to review the ongoing relief efforts in the wake of the #AssamFloods," Sarma wrote on X after his second briefing with Shah in one week.
Education relief is also underway. The Assam State School Education Board will issue duplicate marksheets and certificates for free to students who lost documents. Students in affected areas will receive fresh textbooks and uniform funding, with specific grants of Rs 1,000 for higher secondary, Rs 3,000 for undergraduate, and Rs 5,000 for postgraduate scholars. While Congress MLA Joy Prakash Das pushed for Rs 10 lakh in death compensation and a central government visit, rescue efforts by the Army, Air Force, NDRF, and SDRF continue at 81 active relief camps housing 32,477 displaced residents.
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