Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Guwahati: Floodwaters in Assam have claimed 75 lives, with Sivasagar reporting seven new fatalities in the last 24 hours. The state now lists 332,639 people affected across seven districts, including Sivasagar, Charaideo, Golaghat, Jorhat, Nagaon, Sonitpur, and Kamrup Metropolitan. While rainfall has slowed, 622 villages remain underwater and 45,341 hectares of cropland are submerged. Across the region, 26,679 animals have been lost, with Charaideo recording nearly 10,000 livestock deaths.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma confirmed that families of the deceased will receive Rs 9 lakh in ex-gratia payments, with the government dropping postmortem requirements to speed up delivery. The state is also pushing Rs 15,000 in direct cash assistance to over one lakh families in the four hardest-hit districts. Beneficiaries of the Orunodoi scheme in those areas will see their payments arrive early on August 1. Students in Sivasagar and Charaideo will receive new uniforms, textbooks, and cash grants to replace destroyed study materials.
State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pijush Hazarika labeled the crisis an unprecedented and unnatural disaster, pointing to heavy rain and massive water inflows from Nagaland. Opposition leaders in the Assembly have demanded a Rs 10,000 crore central package to aid reconstruction. Meanwhile, a central team sent by the Ministry of Home Affairs completed a three-day inspection of damaged infrastructure in Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, and Charaideo.
Rescue efforts remain active. Over 71,000 people are sheltering in 215 state-run relief camps, while 1,690 distribution centers provide essential supplies. Personnel from the NDRF, SDRF, and local administration continue to navigate inundated zones using 67 boats. Volunteer groups, including the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Sewa Bharati, have stepped in to distribute medicine, dry food, and drinking water. Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirmed that the Centre is working closely with the state government to monitor the situation. Describing the impact on the local economy, BJP MLA Mrinal Saikia said, "The flood has completely shattered the economies of several districts in Assam, particularly the rural economy."
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