Flood waters recede in Assam, thousands homeless

GUWAHATI - The water levels of the Brahmaputra river in Assam receded Thursday, although thousands of people are still reeling under the devastating floods.

A Central Water Commission bulletin Thursday said the Brahmaputra and its major tributaries were showing a falling trend, although they were still flowing above the danger mark.

“The situation has improved marginally,” Bhumidhar Barman, Assam’s revenue, relief and rehabilitation minister, told IANS.

More than 5.5 million people were displaced in the current wave of flooding that began a fortnight back. Ten people were killed in floods and landslides in Assam and adjoining Arunachal Pradesh.

Thousands of villagers are staying in makeshift relief camps and government buildings and schools with their villages still under water.

The displaced villagers would be able to return to their homes in the next couple of days only if there are no further rains.

But for many, they don’t have a home any more.

“The floods swept away our home. Where do we go from here?” asks Korobi Nath, a village elder in eastern Assam’s Morigaon district, about 65 km from the state’s main city Guwahati.

Flood-hit villagers are passing days in wooden boats or on raised bamboo platforms and embankments with polythene sheet or a tarpaulin covering failing to keep the lashing rains away.

‘We are passing days on this embankment amid mud and filth with rains beating down heavily for so many days,’ said Sabin Medhi, a fatigued farmer.

People are complaining about of lack of supplies of food and other essentials.

“Food and medicines are a scarcity with no supplies coming in from the government,” said Nur Banu, a mother of three children.

Food apart, people are angry with the authorities for not providing them water-purifying tablets.

‘We heard that something called halogen tablets (water purifying tablets) have reached the state from some aid agencies, but then where are the medicines?’ queried another villager, Dhanmoni Das.

‘My son is down with fever and loose motions for the last two days and getting a doctor is a distant dream with floodwaters surrounding us from all sides,’ lamented Sunil Bora, a daily wage earner.