As many as 45.40 lakh people and 33.96 lakh animals (big and small) including poultry in 26 of the 33 districts in Assam are affected by the devastating floods. The flood situation continues to deteriorate with the number of deaths going up to 61. Over 95 per cent of the Kaziranga National Park, a world heritage site, has been inundated and 66 wild animals including two rhinos have died and 170 animals were rescued. This is the third rhino death in the park- the largest habitat of one-horned rhinos in the world - this monsoon Most of the rivers in the state are in spate. According to the India Meteorological Department, Assam has received 22 percent excess rainfall so far. The state has received 796 mm rainfall as against the normal of 652 mm so far.
Many roads, bridges, culverts and other infrastructure have been damaged in floods and landslides across the state. The worst hit districts in the state are Hojai, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Sonitpur, Udalguri, Darrang, Baksa, Nalbari, Barpeta, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Goalpara, Kamrup, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat, Majuli, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and Karbi Anglong.
According to the Assam state disaster management authority (ASDMA), 4,627 villages are under flood waters and standing crops in 1.28 lakh hectares have been ruined. More than 44,000 have been moved to state relief camps. As per daily situation report of ASDMA, over 45.40 lakh people, 33.96 lakh animals in 26 of the 33 districts in Assam are affected by the devastating floods. The death tolls has reached to 61. The State Government has set up 426 relief camps in which more than 1.18 lakh people have taken shelter so far.
In a widely-shared video tweeted by BJP MLA Mrinal Saikia from Khumtai, is seen wading through waist-deep water to help rescue people and livestock marooned because of floods.
P Sivakumar, Director, Kaziranga National Park said that as many as, 66 animals have died with 23 deaths (two rhinos, five wild boars, a swamp deer, 14 hog deer, and a porcupine) due to drowning and 12 (all hog deer) after they were hit by speeding vehicles and 170 animals were rescured. A total of 45 animals (all hog deer) have been injured — 44 due to floods and one due to a vehicle hit. Over 80 percent Kaziranga Park has been inundated and 153 of the total 223 forest camps inside are inundated, of which 14 of which have been vacated. Water from the swollen Brahmaputra river and its tributaries has entered the Kaziranga Park, which has forced tigers and other animals to flee to human habitats and highlands for survival.
There were reports of more tigers being sighted when they were trying to escape floodwaters. One of the tigers was spotted in Karbi Anglong district and while another was seen near the National Highway 37.
Each year, the monsoon floods inundate the National Park, located on the edge of the Eastern Himalayan biodiversity hotspots of Golaghat and Nagaon district, forcing a large number of the wild animals to leave the park and head towards the nearby hills in Karbi Anglong district by crossing National Highway-37 that passes near the parkRs s boundary.
According to a paper published by the Assam government in 2015, soil erosion has claimed over 3,800 sq km of farmland since 1954 – around half the size of Sikkim. Approximately 8,000 hectares of land was being eroded every year.
