Flood alert in Assam, Siang river at its highest level in 50 years

Guwahati: Close on the heels of Kerala recuperating from the floods, the Centre has now raised an alarm over the possible flooding of the Brahmaputra river in Assam, with the Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh and the Brahmaputra flowing along the danger mark.

While a report by the Chinese government, released on Friday, had flagged that the Tsangpo river — the Siang river upon entering India — “had reached its highest level in the last 50 years,” Central and state government officials are now keeping a close watch on the river water levels, especially in Assam, which had been ravaged by L3 (level 3) floods, in August 2017.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), too, has stationed its teams across vulnerable points in the state, with the Brahmaputra along north Assam’s Dibrugarh, breaching the danger mark.

“Our teams have been kept on standby since the end of May. As of now a total of six teams – two teams each – have been stationed in Dehamji, Tinsukia, and Sadia districts of Assam. If any additional deployment is required, we will do so,” according to a senior NDRF official.

The National and State Disaster Response Forces rescued around 200 persons from Assam’s flooded Dhemaji district on Friday.

The East Siang district administration issued a circular on Wednesday asking people living on both sides of the Siang river to remain alert “but not panic”.

According to data released by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), 2017 had been the worst of the last four years in terms of floods. In 2014, floods affected 1,846 villages and displaced around 1.6 million people. The figure for 2015 was 1,031 villages and around 1.5 million people, and in 2016, it was 2,893 villages and about 1.7 million people.

In 2017, 2,400 villages had been affected by floods and more than 1.7 million people had been displaced across the districts of Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Karimganj and Kokrajhar, among others.