Assam looks skyward for relief, camps fill up

The Brahmaputra and its tributaries have caused at least 100 breaches in dykes and embankments in the past two weeks. Kalita’s fate is shared by lakhs in at least 6,400 villages across 24 districts of the state. More than 50 lakh people are homeless; around 2.75 lakh have taken shelter in the 1,300 temporary camps set up by the state government.

‘‘We have appealed to the Indian Red Cross and other voluntary agencies to come to the aid of the people. It is an unprecedented situation with the numerous dykes and embankments failing to control the rivers,’’ Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said. The state government had on Sunday sent an SOS to the Centre, seeking immediate release of Rs 1,200 crore, of which only Rs 181 crore has been released.

Relief, however, is unlikely to come soon. A delegation of the Indian Red Cross arrived only today, seven days after floods swept across the North-east. The team will submit its report only after its return to Delhi on Saturday.

Nalbari, Barpeta, Kamrup, Dhubri, Morigaon, Darrang and Chirang districts are the worst-affected, with NH-31, the lifeline of the entire North-east, remaining submerged for a week now. The highway has been washed away in several places as have several bridges in the districts, holding up relief and rescue operations. The Army has pressed 50 boats and seven helicopters into service.

The water level receded only slightly today and officials fear it will take at least another week, without rains in Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan, for the situation to return to normal.

Thousands of homeless cooped up in relief camps have raised health concerns. ‘‘There is acute shortage of safe drinking water and the state is facing a problem of water purifying tablets,’’ a health department official said. Reports of water-borne diseases and enteric fever have started coming from some districts while installation of tubewells for drinking water would take some time, the official said.

A report from Barpeta said a woman died after giving birth in a relief camp due to lack of medical facilities. The baby died a few hours later. In Morigaon, villagers recovered the decomposed body of a woman that flowed down with the floodwaters.