Congress’ Priyanka Gandhi expresses grief over loss of lives in Assam’s flood situation; appeals party for assistance

New Delhi [India], July 7 (ANI): Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra expressed grief over the loss of lives due to the severe flood situation in Assam and urged party members to actively participate in relief and rescue operations.

Condoling the deaths caused by the deluge, Priyanka Gandhi posted on X on Sunday, “The news of the deaths of a large number of people due to floods in Assam is very sad. Due to the continuously deteriorating situation, lakhs of people are living in relief camps.”

“A large number of animals have also died in Kaziranga, and many are injured. Our condolences are with the people of Assam,” the post read.

“I appeal to the Congress leaders and workers to please participate actively in relief and rescue operations. I also request that the state and central governments provide all possible help to the affected people,” Priyanka Gandhi added.

Meanwhile, the grievous flood situation in Assam over the past month has claimed 58 lives across the state, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) reported on Saturday.

According to the ASDMA, six more people lost their lives on Saturday, raising the state’s death toll from 52 to 58. Dhubri is the worst-hit district, followed by Cachar and Darrang.

The destructive floodwaters have resulted in the loss of life, extensive damage to infrastructure, road closures, crop destruction, and livestock loss. Hundreds of people have been left homeless and unsettled.

According to the ASDMA flood report, on July 6, two people drowned in floodwaters in the Charaideo district, and one person each in Goalpara, Morigaon, Sonitpur, and Tinsukia districts.

The overall flood situation in the state slightly improved on Saturday, but over 2.396 million people in 29 districts are affected by the second wave of floods.

Dhubri is the worst-hit district, with 797,918 people affected, followed by 175,231 in Cachar, 163,218 in Darrang, 131,246 in Barpeta, 109,470 in Golaghat, 105,372 in Nalbari, and 100,926 in South Salmara district.

The floodwaters have submerged 3,535 villages under 107 revenue circles and inundated 68,768.5 hectares of crop area.

The flood-affected districts are Dhubri, Cachar, Hailakandi, Kamrup, Goalpara, Charaideo, Biswanath, Barpeta, Nalbari, Bongaigaon, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Hojai, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, South Salmara, Nagaon, Morigaon, Karimganj, Chirang, Kokrajhar, Darrang, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Sonitpur, Karbi Anglong, Tinsukia, Majuli, and Kamrup (M).

Ten rivers, including the Brahmaputra River, are in spate and flowing above the danger level in many places.

The water level of the Brahmaputra River is above the danger mark at Neamatighat, Tezpur, Dhubri, and Goalpara.

Over 526,000 people are taking shelter in 577 relief camps and distribution centers in 27 districts.

As per reports, 1,549,161 animals have been affected by the deluge.

On the other hand, 114 wild animals, including six rhinos, have died in the flood in Kaziranga National Park.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma visited the Jyotinagar area in Guwahati on Saturday and met the parents of Abinash Sarkar, who went missing after falling into a drain near a temple in the locality following the devastating floods.

The Chief Minister extended his deepest condolences to the bereaved family, visited the incident site, and took stock of the ongoing search operation. He directed the concerned departments and search teams to intensify their operation to locate the child.

Earlier on Friday, CM Sarma visited Dibrugarh town to review the flood situation. He toured the affected areas on foot, interacting with residents and engaging with experts to find community-driven solutions to the inundation problem.