The current wave of floods in Assam has affected more than 33 lakh people in 28 districts of the state. 

Among the worst-hits districts is Barpeta where over 5.50 lakh people are affected. Dhubri, Morigaon, and South Salmara districts with 4.11 lakh, 4.08 lakh, and 2.25 lakh people affected, respectively, are also among the worst-hit by the deluge, according to the daily flood bulletin of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).

95% of the Kaziranga park submerged

Kaziranga National Park, a World Heritage site, has been severely affected by the floods as well. With 95 per cent of the Kaziranga park’s 430 sqkm-area now submerged, traffic movement on the National Highway-37 near Kaziranga has also been suspended.

As the flooding worsened, at least 51 wild animals were confirmed dead, 100 had been rescued and many tigers and rhinos strayed into nearby villages.

Park Director P. Sivakumar said that rising water level in the park areas had forced three sub-adult tigers to stray into a goat-shed in Kandolimari village and nearby areas.

“Two of the tigers have already been driven back into the park area and efforts are on to locate the third tiger,” Sivakumar told media.

Of the 223 camps of forest personnel guarding the park, 173 have been inundated and 14 others vacated due to rising water levels.

Till Tuesday, the total death count in this year’s floods in Assam was 85, with 59 dying in flood-related incidents and 26 killed in landslides.

13 rivers in the state, including the Brahmaputra, flowed above the danger mark forcing the evacuation of more than 45,000 people to 188 relief camps. The entire Brahmaputra valley region, which includes the Kaziranga National Park, is underwater. Some 2,816 villages are completely inundated and over one lakh hectares of cropland has been lost.