Guwahati, June 29 NNN: Human and animal casualties are rising as Assam experiences one of the worst floods in over a decade.
Till Friday, the flood has already claimed 27 persons and dozens of animals mostly from Kaziranga National Park.
According to a data, this is the worst calamity since 1998 in Assam.
Officials said about 75% of Kaziranga National Park has been submerged. The source added that the water level receded a bit on Friday, but not before drowning 22 hog deer and two rhinos including a calf.
With another old rhino having drowned on Thursday, the toll due to drowning rose to 25. The park authorities, however, were more concerned by 17 animals having been run over by speeding vehicles on National Highway 37 (kissing the southern edge of KNP) while trying to cross over to higher grounds.
SK Bora who is the director of Kaziranga National Park said the park requires the annual floods to cleanse numerous water bodies within. “Kaziranga is primarily a mix of wetland and grassland with a bit of woodland thrown in. Though animals are used to flooding every year, it has been a bit too much this year,” he said, adding more than 30 animals have been rescued so far.
The main challenge for the park authorities has been to regulate the speed of vehicles on a 45km stretch of NH37 from Haldibari in the east and Amguri in the west. “We have started issuing time cards to vehicles to move at a maximum speed of 40 kmph and cover the stretch in 40 minutes,” he said.
Meanwhile, the authorities in 22 flood-hit districts have stepped up rescue and relief operations with help from the army and National Disaster Relief Force. Army and NDRF personnel have rescued more than 6,000 people since Wednesday with the latter having pressed an unprecedented 14 teams comprising 675 personnel in eight districts.
Adding to the complications has been a series of landslides. While nine people have died in landslips in Guwahati – a few hill ranges criss-cross the city – two children were swept away by an avalanche of loose earth in Dima Hasao, one of Assam’s two hill districts on Friday.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/assam-flood-death-toll-rises/
