Around 200,000 people affected by floods in India's Assam

Around 200,000 people were affected by floods in India's northeastern state of Assam, officials said Wednesday.

The floods have hit seven districts in the state, damaging standing crops and disrupting road connectivity.

According to officials, many people have taken shelter inside relief camps at Goalpara and Tinsukia districts.

Authorities have deputed National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams in the affected areas to carry out flood relief and rescue works.

"Around two lakh (200,000) people in seven districts have been affected in the first wave of floods in the state's Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Darrang, Nalbari, Goalpara, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts," an official at Assam state disaster management authority said. "Our teams are stationed at 40 places with equipment to carry out rescue work."

The officials said guidelines have been issued to take special care while setting up relief camps in wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"A total of 35 relief camps and relief distribution centers have been opened," the official said.

Heavy rains continue to lash large parts of the state, including capital city Dispur. According to local meteorological center, heavy rainfall is predicted in the region over the next four days.

Floods are an annual occurrence in Assam during the monsoon season.

The floods have come at a time when India is in the grip of COVID-19 pandemic, which so far has affected 151,767 people in the country and killed 4,337.

Meanwhile, India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red-color coded weather alert for Assam and Meghalaya until Thursday, predicting very heavy rainfall in these two northeastern states.

Meanwhile, the adjacent state of Meghalaya has witnessed heavy showers, cyclonic storm and hailstorm in various districts, triggering landslides, floods and washing off roads and bridges.

The rains hit the state following last week's super cyclone Amphan.

The rainstorm lashed out in different districts in the past 24 hours, damaging farms while uprooting trees and bringing down electric cables in different districts.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)