Incessant rains have caused flooding in Assam with at least six people getting killed – three in the last 24 hours – and as many as eight lakh people were marooned by the floods till Friday evening.

Normal life has been hit in 21 of the 33 districts of the flood-hit Assam.

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A total of 1,556 villages in 68 revenue circles in 21 districts have been affected in the current wave of floods.

The affected districts include Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Sonitpur, Darrang, Baksa, Barpeta, Nalbari, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Goalpara, Morigaon, Hojai, Nagaon, Golaghat, Majuli, Jorhat, Sibsagar, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia.

Officials of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said that two more persons died due to floods in Golaghat district in the last 24 hours while one person died in a landslide in Dima Hasao district.

“A total of 8,69,024 people, including women and children, have been affected by the floods,” an ASDMA official said.

Meanwhile, river Brahmaputra in Jorhat, Sonitpur, Kamrup, Goalpara and Dhubri districts is flowing above the danger level.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been pressed into service in the flood-affected areas for search and rescue operations.

Presently, 68 relief camps are operational in the affected districts.

Over 27,000 hectares of farmland is also under flood waters and more than 7,000 people have been evacuated to 68 relief centres across the state.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Thursday reviewed the prevailing flood situation and asked Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and other officials to remain fully alert for tackling the situation.

The CM also directed the concerned departments, district administrations and officials to take immediate steps for keeping adequate stocks of food, drinking water, medicine and other essential commodities ready for the affected people.

Instructing the officials to step up operations to rescue flood-affected people, he further directed to provide timely medical treatment to people at relief camps and flood-hit areas to avert the outbreak of Japanese Encephalitis and other health hazards.

Sonowal has also asked the state Power Department to take all necessary measures to prevent incidents of electrocution which may occur owing to the negligence of departmental officials.

In view of several such incidents in Guwahati in the past causing loss of many lives, Sonowal asked the DC and Assam State Disaster Management Authority to identify all landslide-prone areas and sensitise the local people to vacate such places to avert any mishap.