More than 22,000 people have been affected across six districts after days of heavy rainfall in Assam and neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh.
Flash floods triggered by heavy rainfall have left a trail of destruction across Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, damaging houses and roads, triggering landslides, and causing a major section of a railway bridge built in 1965 to collapse in Assam's Dhemaji district.
On Monday, home minister Amit Shah held a phone call with Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to review the first spell of flash floods. More than 22,000 people have been affected across six districts after days of heavy rainfall in Assam and neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh.
Flash floods in Assam, railway bridge collapses
A total of 22,124 people have been affected by the floods in the districts of Dhemaji, Nalbari, Dibrugarh, Chirang, Lakhimpur and Kokrajhar, figures released by the Assam state disaster management authority (ASDMA) showed.
Dhemaji is the hardest-hit district, with 15,483 people affected by rising floodwaters. The authority also said that floodwaters have submerged 96 villages and damaged around 1,690 hectares of agricultural land.
Continuous rainfall has caused the Brahmaputra River and its tributaries to rise further. Apart from the impact on people, the floods have also affected 48,199 animals.
A portion of the railway bridge in Dhemaji district collapsed, forcing the indefinite suspension of train services between Archipathar and Simen Chapari stations.
“This bridge, constructed in 1965, and later converted to broad gauge, was in good and safe condition, but due to washing away of a large portion of the river bank during the heavy rains, one of its piers became unstable," the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) said in a statement.
The railway said no train was damaged and no one was injured. It added that train services on the low-traffic branch line had already been suspended because of the swollen river.
Arunachal flash floods
Days after a cloudburst led to flash floods and landslides in Arunachal Pradesh, warnings of thunderstorms with lightning and heavy rain remain in place across the state from June 28 to July 1 as the situation continues to deteriorate.
Officials have warned that the current weather conditions could lead to more landslides, flash floods and disruption to daily life in vulnerable areas.
Three people have died so far in the rain-triggered flash floods in Arunachal Pradesh, while search and rescue operations are still in progress, officials said.
Rumi Rabha, 46, an employee of North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO), and her husband are currently staying in a temporary relief camp after flash floods swept away their official quarters near Possa village.
She told news agency ANI, “It was raining very heavily, non-stop. Then the boundary wall collapsed, and the water rushed right inside. We managed to get out somehow, but the house was completely swept away. Nothing is left. We are just scraping by on whatever food people give us; that's how we're living.
We don't know what will happen later. We had so many belongings, gold and everything. All our possessions were right here in the house. We barely managed to escape, but we couldn't save a thing.”
People who survived the devastating flash floods described the terrifying moments when raging waters swept away their homes, livelihoods and belongings. Many families narrowly escaped and have now taken shelter in temporary relief camps.
Heavy rainfall in Arunachal Pradesh has caused the Leku River to overflow. Local residents said this is the first time the Leku River has entered villages on such a large scale. Floodwaters have submerged several villages, including Kedichuk in the Jonai subdivision of neighbouring Assam.
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