'Where will we go?' Assam weeps as houses washed away, crops damaged

Roads and bridges broken, houses and schools washed away and crops badly damaged...this is the scene in most parts of Assam as the flood situation started improving slowly.

After spending six days in a relief camp near Chaygaon in western Assam's Kamrup district, Dipen Malakar returned to his village Kashibhita on Saturday. But the head of a six-member family was at a loss.

"All three houses have been washed away and the paddy field is still under water. Where will we go?" Malakar, a 59-year-old farmer, asked an NGO worker, who visited his village with relief materials.

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Several houses have been damaged while the road to Kashibhita has been breached at many places. Kamrup was one of the worst affected districts in this year's flood in Assam which has affected nearly one crore people so far (one third of Assam's population) since mid May.

The water has started receding in many districts but the daily flood bulletin issued by Assam State Disaster Management Authority on Monday said 18.35 lakh people still remained affected in 1,618 villages in 26 districts. Over 2.78 lakh people were still living in relief camps.

"Some of these people have lost their houses and crops badly. So they are reluctant to go back. Floods this year will have a huge impact on livelihoods, particularly on farmers," said an NGO worker in Kamrup.

Floods have left over 7.26 lakh people homeless and were forced to live in relief camps.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma recently said that this year's flood was unprecedented and caused huge damage in areas where flood was comparatively less in the previous years.

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"We are doing everything possible to ensure that the relief materials reach all affected people. At the same time, we have asked the deputy commissioners to do the assessment of the damages caused by floods so that we can focus on restoration work as early as possible," he said.

The state government has decided to provide Rs 3,800 to each who lived in relief camps and Rs 1,000 to students in relief camps, to buy books.

Officials told DH, although an assessment was under way to gauge the damages caused by this year's flood, preliminary assessment suggested that the amount of damages could be worth over Rs 3,000 crore. Members of an inter-ministerial team, rushed by the Centre, have visited some of the affected areas and took stock of the situation.

According to the preliminary assessment, 18,034 houses have been fully damaged while another 1.20 lakh houses were damaged partially. 187 embankments have been breached and 193 bridges broken. 3,611 roads, 2,681 Anganwadi centres and crops worth 2.39 lakh hectares have also been damaged due to the floods this year so far. "The number will be much more as many areas are still under water," an official said.

Flood and landslides have caused 179 deaths, of which maximum were in Cachar district (40) followed by Nagaon (25) and Barpeta (17).

Opposition parties, however, have alleged that the BJP-led government failed to provide adequate relief materials while the Centre failed to address the annual flood problem in Assam.

A delegation of the Assam unit of Trinamool Congress met Governor Jagdish Mukhi on Monday demanding his intervention for proper relief and urging the Centre for a special package to repair the damages caused by floods.

"The quantum of this year's flood damage was so high, that apart from washing away roads, bridges, embankments, the houses of several thousands of families were damaged. It damaged several lakh hectares of agricultural land, horticulture, fishery, domestic animals and poultry. It will not be possible for thousands of families to earn their livelihoods after the flood," said a memorandum submitted to the Governor.