As several districts of the state—especially in the Upper Assam region—reel under severe floods after days of heavy rain, the authorities had to requisition helicopters from the IAF for two rescue operations, with boats unable to reach stranded people because of the swelling water levels and strong currents of water. With heavy rain and overflowing rivers, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh have been reeling under severe flood conditions and the state administrations are bracing themselves for a deterioration in the situation over the next few days. The flood situation in Assam took a turn for the worse on the evening of June 30, with 6.4 lakh people from 1,275 villages across 19 districts affected as of Monday evening. The displacement brought about by the floods has resulted in 8,142 people taking shelter in 72 relief camps across 11 districts, with the highest number of displaced people in Barak Valley’s Karimganj district and the Upper Assam districts of Tinsukia, Lakhimpur and Dibrugarh. Thirty-five people have lost their lives to flood-related incidents this year. Different rivers running through Assam such as the Brahmaputra, Desang, Subansiri, Dekhow, Buridehing, Beki and Barak were flowing above normal levels. With the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting moderate to heavy rain over the next four days, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said “the next 3-4 days will be very critical for the state”. The situation in the Upper Assam district of North Lakhimpur has also been adversely affected by the release of excess water by the NHPC, a public sector hydropower company, from the Subansiri Lower Dam on the evening of June 30. Flooding in the Kaziranga National Park, where 95 out of 233 forest checkposts have been inundated, has triggered the migration of wild animals to the neighboring hills in Karbi Anglong. The situation in Arunachal Pradesh is also grim with various parts reeling under floods and landslides. The Itanagar district administration has announced the closure of schools till July 6. The Assam Rifles were also brought in to rescue stranded people from flooded villages in Namsai and Changlang districts and around 500 people had been rescued as of Monday evening. Those rescued on Tuesday morning include 12 fishermen who were stranded on a riverine island in Dibrugarh since June 28. They were airlifted with IAf helicopters on Tuesday morning. The deputy commissioner had reached out to the revenue and disaster management departments requesting helicopters, saying that rescue boats had not been able to reach the stranded people. A rescue team in Dhemaji district, comprising nine personnel from the State Disaster Rescue Force and the Fire and Emergency Services, also had to be airlifted on June 30 after their boat capsized in the Siyang river in the midst of an operation.
