Animals flee, people marooned
- Rain submerges Kaziranga, Guwahati & districts; triggers mudslides in Shillong
Makeshift season: Students of Gauhati Commerce College tread gingerly on a row of benches on their waterlogged campus while a boy in Sivasagar uses a raft made of banana stems to collect firewood.
Guwahati, Jun 29 : Bonnet-deep in water, cars swam through inundated streets in Guwahati today as rain began its dance of devastation, partially submerging Kaziranga National Park, flooding villages in Dhubri and triggering fatal mudslides in neighboring Meghalaya.
While animals in Kaziranga raced towards the hills, chased by the rising waters, people in Guwahati had little choice but remain marooned in the waterlogged neighborhoods.
The situation is only likely to worsen with the weather department warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall in Assam and the other northeastern states during the next 24 hours.
Forest officials at Kaziranga in Upper Assam’s Jorhat said large swathes of the national park, especially the areas along the Brahmaputra, were flooded last night.
“Animals have started moving out of the park towards the adjacent Karbi Anglong hills to the south to escape the rising water,” a park official said.
The park authorities have already imposed Section 144 banning speeding vehicles on the stretch of National Highway 37 which passes through the national park. Every year, several animals are crushed under speeding wheels while fleeing the flooded park.
If Upper Assam struggled to save its animals, lower Assam fought to remain afloat.
Nearly 500 villages near the catchment areas of the Brahmaputra, particularly in Dhubri and Goalpara districts, were inundated.
All the tributaries of Brahmaputra, including Beki, Aie, Sankosh, Champabati, Gourang, Tipkai, Gadadhar and Gangadhar, have been flowing above the danger mark.
Officials in both Dhubri and Goalpara district administration said they were keeping a close watch on the rivers and rescue plans were in place.
The rising water level in several rain-fed rivers flowing from Bhutan flooded parts of Kokrajhar, Chirang and Baksa and destroyed paddy fields.
In Baksa, villages in Gobardhona were flooded after the embankment of Biki, which flows through the Manas National Park, broke.
A 35-year-old man, Kadam Ali, went missing when a boat capsized in Aie river in Chirang last evening.
Over 50 families from Simbargaon in Kokrajhar have been shifted to relief camps.
Villages were not the only sufferers, the capital city had its share of woes.
Continuous downpour since last night triggered artificial floods in several parts of the Guwahati, the worst-affected areas being Nabin Nagar, Lachit Nagar, Zoo Road and Anil Nagar.
Floodwaters also swept away several thatched houses in the Lachit Nagar area.
In neighbouring Meghalaya, a landslide, triggered by incessant rain killed a 14-year-old girl and injured six others at Bishnupur in Shillong.
Alica Arengh died when mud rushed down from a hillock around 7.30 this morning and buried the quarters of her father, Kamal Sangma, a constable.
Firemen rescued the other five occupants of the house but failed to save Alica.
Rainwater also flooded the hostel and other rooms of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, Pologround, in Shillong.
Boys and girls who were being trained under SAI had to sit in the galleries in the morning because of the floods.
There are reports of a few houses being damaged in other parts of Shillong, including Gora Lane, Nongrim Hills and Lower Lumpering, by landslide.
The weather department said Meghalaya today recorded the highest rainfall, 133.8mm, so far this year.
The officials also said more rains might hit the state in the next few days.
Meteorological department officials said the southwest monsoon has become active during past 48 hours, with reports of widespread rainfall in many places from Saturday.
According to forecast issued by the department today, widespread rain and thundershowers would occur over northeastern states till July 1.
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